Against Japan
Last World Cup opening win in 2006: basketball player before duty
Basketball star Dennis Schröder during throwing practice. photo
© Matthias Stickel/dpa
The World Cup stumble start was recently standard for Germany’s basketball players. That should be different this time. Especially since Japan’s only well-known actor does not play at all.
Germany’s basketball players have not had particularly good experiences with the opening games of the World Cup. The last success at the start of a World Cup dates from 2006: In Japan, against Japan.
Today (2:10 p.m./Magentasport) the team of national coach Gordon Herbert will be competing in this year’s edition for the first time: in Japan, against Japan. Last year’s European Championship third-placed will confidently approach the game in the Okinawa Arena and, after strong preparation, will start as the clear favorite against the Asian hosts.
Can Japan capitalize on home advantage?
“It’s definitely a must-win. We have a group with a lot of quality. Japan is supposedly the easiest opponent, but they have the home advantage. That pushes again,” said winger Andreas Obst about the opening opponent, who was without an NBA professional Rui Hachimura has to make do. If Germany fails at the start, there is a risk of premature elimination against Australia, who took third place in the Olympics, on Sunday (10:30 a.m.). As the fourth team, Finland is part of the group that is considered to be one of the strongest at this World Cup.
For the team, the dispute between Dennis Schröder and Maxi Kleber seems to be over. After harsh criticism from Schröder, Kleber announced that he would not play the World Cup. “I stayed out of it and I think it’s a pity that this matter is even an issue. I think it’s unfair that something like this takes away attention from the essential,” said Moritz Wagner of the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (Friday). The case has “no impact on our everyday life”. Wagner’s brother Franz also sees it that way. “Of course Maxi is a great player that we could use. But at the same time we now have everything in the team that is necessary to play this World Cup.