Basketball World Cup
Duel with Latvia: Big Olympic chance for DBB team
The DBB team also wants to celebrate a win against Latvia. photo
© Hiro Komae/AP/dpa
Germany has arrived in the quarterfinals of the Basketball World Cup and is dealing with an outsider there. The chance of the 2024 Olympics in Paris is greater than ever.
The 2024 Olympic Games in Paris are within reach for Germany’s basketball players. Quite a win against the blatant outsider Latvia on Wednesday (10.45 a.m. / Magentasport) could be enough to book the coveted ticket.
The prerequisite is that the favorites USA (against Italy) and Canada (against Slovenia) also make it into the World Cup semi-finals. Then Germany would not only play for a medal, but would also be among the two best European teams.
Latvia with exclamation mark
Without star player Kristaps Porzingis, Latvia is not outstanding on paper, but has already amazed at this World Cup with victories against the dethroned world champion Spain (74:69) and Olympic silver winner France (88:86). Co-captain Johannes Voigtmann called the Latvians “a very dangerous team” and referred to the tournament so far. “They played a great World Cup and play well together as a team. They don’t have one superstar, but they have a very good team with a lot of good throwers.”
After five wins from five games in Okinawa, Japan, Germany is the clear favorite in the quarter-final duel. Head coach Gordon Herbert said of Latvia: “It’s a big surprise but they played very good basketball. They play very hard. That’s the next game, that’s what it’s all about for us.”
In addition to Germany against Latvia, a European representative from the duel between Serbia and Lithuania will also make it into the semi-finals. The USA and Canada are already qualified for Paris 2024 as the top two American teams.