DPA
Manila
Germany have reached the semi-finals of the basketball World Cup for the first time since 2002 with a 81-79 win against Latvia on Wednesday and also qualified for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
The German side will now face top favourites United States in the semi-finals of the tournament on Friday, which is hosted by the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.
“It was a mix of euphoria and shock. It was really a shocking moment,” Germany centre Johannes Thiemann said about the atmosphere in the dressing room after the game. The qualification for the Olympics came after Canada prevailed 100-89 over Slovenia, led by NBA star Luka Doncic, and set up a semi-finals clash with Serbia.
With that, Germany and Serbia will finish the World Cup as the two best European teams and, therefore, qualifying for the Summer Games.
Olympic champions US, Canada as well as hosts France are also already qualified for the basketball competition in Paris.
Against Latvia, not even a poor performance from top star and team captain Dennis Schröder (nine points) got in the way of Germany claiming their sixth win in their sixth World Cup game. Germany are the only unbeaten team left in the competition.
“That was probably the worst game I’ve ever played,” Schröder said after the match.
Three-point specialist Andreas Obst recognized that his team-mate “had a difficult game. But the fact that we still won the game is what makes this team stand out.”
Germany were helped by the comeback of young star Franz Wagner, who recovered from injury and scored 16 points. His brother, Moritz, also impressed with 12 points, while Obst added 13 points to his name.
“Franz is unbelievable. He’s 22 years old, was injured, comes back and then makes a play like that. He has so much talent,” Thiemann said.
Franz Wagner was chosen the most valuable player (MVP) of the match and was also praised by Schröder.
“The fact that Franz was back was of course very, very important. That’s why he was also MVP of the match,” the Germany captain said.
