Basketball players completed training, Bećiragić underlined the importance of the match against Spain

(Patria) - In the 2nd round of EuroBasket, the national teams of Spain and Bosnia and Herzegovina will face off tomorrow.

The BiH national team members completed their training this evening at the Spyros Kyprianou Arena in Limassol, and after the training, the BiH head coach Adis Bećiragić addressed the media.

- The atmosphere in the team is exceptionally good, the guys are focused on the match against Spain. This match has much greater value than the other three matches, it seems to us, but again, the other three matches do not lose their value if something we do not want to happen against Spain occurs. We are entering a period of four tough matches, against four extremely strong opponents, and I think two or three are medal contenders, so we are concentrated on this entire period of these four matches. However, the match against Spain, if we win, due to various possibilities, still seems to us the most important of all, Bećiragić began.

- We are ready both physically and mentally, Halilović is not ready yet, and all other players are alive and well, the atmosphere is excellent and I hope that will be shown tomorrow in the match itself.

More or less, we train well, 90 percent of the training has been done within these 40-odd days the way we wanted. We are aware of the importance of this match, and I think the concentration started already last night, so it can be seen in training as well, we are quite focused and I would like us to show that tomorrow, added the BiH selector.

The selector also commented on the match between Georgia and Spain.

- I would say that Georgia's defense in that match was extremely experienced and smart. They didn't "suffocate" them all over the court, they closed them down and did those things that experienced people do, their interior line took over and stopped the opponent's actions in a way that you can't always prepare as a coach, of course, along with toughness. But, I would still say that the players' experience was decisive, Spain is a relatively young team compared to the Georgians, and they used that very well. There was a big difference in offensive rebounds (15-7) in Georgia's favor, that tipped the scales, said Bećiragić.

Spain's head coach Sergio Scariolo ahead of the match emphasized the height of the BiH national team and said that our national team players are taller than the Spaniards at all positions.

- We have been together here for three years now, and I think we have managed to build, first of all, a style of play that suits us in my opinion. Secondly, we have proven that we can play against everyone, and I know very well that every national team when they come to play against us, regardless of our lineup, because of the manner and style of play, that we are unpleasant opponents and I think we have succeeded in that. I would like us to show that tomorrow, to play tough, experienced, but again not step out of our framework, and that is our fast play, although the opponents also play fast, so we will have to be careful how fast we play. If we make mistakes in that fast play, early shots, that is literally food for Spain. I hope we will be smart, said the BiH selector.

Tomorrow, even more fans are expected than against Cyprus.

- Their arrival is an exceptional advantage and luck for us, secondly, their cheering does not put pressure on us and gives us enormous energy. They are our sixth player, and I would invite them to come tomorrow and be even louder if possible, because we really need them. We are playing against the European champions, we have certain problems, but we always know that the fans are our sixth player. I truly thank them, it is not easy to come, it requires both money and time, they have made a huge sacrifice, I would like us to repay them with our sacrifice on the court.

I know how much people in BiH long for our success and how much our victories meant to people through the qualifiers. I must admit I didn't feel that before, only after the match against Croatia. Only now am I aware of how important our victories are to people in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I sincerely wish to make them happy, first of all for their sake, and then for ours as well, Bećiragić concluded.

The match Bosnia and Herzegovina - Spain is played on Saturday at 20:30.

(vijesti.ba)