It was thought that Italy held the capital feat of this Euro after knocking out the Serbia of Nikola Jokic and Vasilije Micic in the round of 16, but Poland went even stronger last night, outright outright the Slovenian defending champion after a bitter and disputed fight until the last minute (90-87).
Thrilled after this feat, which propelled Poland to the semi-finals of a Euro for the first time since 1971, coach Igor Milicic had great difficulty putting this historic success into perspective and containing his joy.
“We wanted the Slovenians to get angry because the more they cried, the more fuel it gave us”explained Igor Milicic afterwards at a press conference. “Big hats off and all my respect to our players for their effort throughout the game and their intensity. I have nothing left in my head, it’s a big void. What they have done is amazing. (…) We have always believed in it. We have twelve players, a medical and sports staff. We are like a family. We have the collective strength to believe in great things, impossible things. This team has that strength like no other in Europe. Players have balls the size of watermelons and hearts the size of the moon. I am so happy with this triumph. “
Having started off with a bang in the first half, even leading by 23 points, the Polish players, on the other hand, suffered a nasty cold snap when they returned from the locker room, conceding a scathing 24-6 in the third quarter…
But the troop led by an amazing Mateusz Ponitka (26 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists for 41 evaluation) which will achieve the fourth triple-double in the history of EuroBasket, will manage to find the mental strength to recover on the right track in the last quarter.
“We knew they were going to come back aggressively after their first half. It’s basketball. We got caught by the pressure of the opponent. But when we managed to attack the circle normally, everything opened up again for us. In a difficult moment, the players came out of it with a lot of character. We had one of the best defensive matches in the competition. We beat the defending champions anyway. We achieved the best result in the history of Poland since I don’t know when. I have no more words! “
After this resounding feat, Poland will have to quickly come down from their cloud to face France in the semi-finals tomorrow, Friday, at 5:15 p.m.
“We still want to dream. We’re going to do everything we can to make this dream last as long as possible.” concludes Igor Milicic. “We have already achieved something unimaginable. It’s a shock but we want to go further. The captain said it was huge but we hadn’t said our last word yet. Let’s continue like this! “
Photo credits: FIBA
