basketball
Starker da Silva: “The Olympics are of course in the back of our minds”
Came to 19 points against Montenegro: Germany’s Oscar Da Silva. photo
© Marijan Murat/dpa
Last year’s World Cup took place without Oscar da Silva. But he hasn’t given up his dream of the Olympics yet.
After his strong performance in the European Championship qualifying opener against Montenegro Oscar da Silva is a sought-after man. In the absence of almost all the world champions, the Euroleague professional from FC Barcelona took the completely new German team by the hand and led it with 19 points to an unchallenged 85:61. And at the same time advertised on our own behalf.
Finally, the next highlight is coming up in the summer with the Olympic Games in Paris. And after da Silva narrowly missed the World Cup in Asia, where Germany surprisingly won gold in Manila, he absolutely wants to take part in the Olympics. “The Olympics are of course in the back of my mind,” said the Munich native. “It would be a dream to be there in Paris.”
It can be assumed that national coach Gordon Herbert will largely rely on his World Cup squad in Paris. But if one of the Manila heroes weakens or is injured, da Silva wants to be there. And with performances like those against Montenegro, the former Alba Berlin professional would definitely be a worthy Olympic participant.
“It was fun. It was nice that I was able to take on a bit of responsibility here in the absence of the world champions and pull the team along,” said da Silva. He will be challenged again on Sunday (4 p.m./MagentaSport). Then the second game of the European Championship qualification takes place in Bulgaria. For da Silva the next opportunity to collect plus points for the Olympics.