After a score of 47-47 in the first half, the Germans defeated the more likely Serbs in the third quarter, and although the latter was close to the lead, they won the final of the men’s basketball world championship 83-77.
The Germans, the 2002 World Cup bronze medalists, were preparing for their first World Cup final as the only unbeaten team in this year’s tournament, and as they marched to the Far East, neither Australia, Slovenia nor the United States were able to stop them.
Serbia can boast a somewhat more serious past, having topped the basketball world three times as Yugoslavia, and twice as Serbia and Montenegro. The last time, in 2002, Svetislav Pesic, who currently manages the team, sat on the bench, and the 74-year-old coaching legend was also Adam Hanga’s coach at Barcelona. The team under the name Serbia won the silver medal in the World Cup in 2014.
In the first quarter in Manila, it was the Balkans that mostly controlled the pace of the game, but were unable to get away from last year’s European Championship bronze medalists, the Germans, with the score at 47-47 at halftime. On the German side, Dennis Schroeder, who has been coaching in the NBA for ten years, and Franz Wagner, who has strengthened the Orlando Magic since 2021, scored 14 points each, while on the Serbian side, Bogdan Bogdanovic (Atlanta Hawks) scored. Leading by 15.
After the change of half, the Serbs suddenly became insecure, scoring only 6 points in 8 and a half minutes, and the Canadian-Finnish team, Gordon Herbert, finished with 12 points. In the final period, starting from 69-57, Besic’s goalkeeper reduced the gap to 3 points a minute and a half before the end thanks to Alexa Avramovic, but he was unable to get close to that.
The victorious, unbeaten Germans achieved the greatest success in their history by claiming their first World Cup gold medal.
The final result:
Germany-Serbia 83-77 (23-26, 24-21, 22-10, 14-20)
Best shooters: Schroeder (28), F. Wagner (19), Voigtmann (12), Avramović (21), Bogdanovic (17), Petrusev (10) Previously:
Bronze match:
Canada-USA 127-118 (34-25, 24-31, 33-26, 20-29, 16-7) – after overtime
Another slap in the face for the USA: Even the bronze medal didn’t come against Canada in the FIBA World Cup qualifiers
Cover Photo:
epa10852905 German players celebrate with the trophy on the podium after winning the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup final between Serbia and Germany at the Mall of Asia in Manila, Philippines, September 10, 2023. EPA/Francis R. Malasig
