Women's basketball team departs for European Championship in Portugal

The women's U20 national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina departed this morning via Vienna for Matosinhos, Portugal, where they will compete in the A Division European Championship from July 8-16.

Last night was lively at the "Holywood" hotel in Ilidža. The women's junior national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina came to see off their older colleagues, and support also arrived from our junior team, who are preparing for the Eurobasket in Slovakia.

Full heart of our national team selector Mara Lakić-Brčaninović, who thanked everyone who supported the U20 team in the previous period.

- We truly had unreserved support from everyone around us - starting from the people in the Association, all the way to our national team colleagues from all BiH selections. As for the preparations themselves, the girls trained really well and I believe we did what we needed to do. Now comes the realization of the most important goal, which is survival in the A Division. It won't be easy for us, this year we won't be seen as outsiders, which might have been the case last year. Given the competition system, that fourth match will be the most important for us, which is crucial for all teams. If we win, we enter the top eight, if not... A fight for survival until the last match. The psychological moment will play a big role there, which we have worked on and will continue to work on during the Eurobasket. I truly believe in this team, in these girls who have all the human, sports and basketball qualities, and I hope we will return from Portugal with a good result - said Mara Lakić-Brčaninović.

Our country will be represented at the European Championship in Portugal, according to the selection of the coaching staff, by the following 12 girls:

Melisa Brčaninović, Nedžla Kovačević, Jovana Marković, Dragana Domuzin, Sara Heljić, Milina Mišeljić, Sandra Azinović, Lejla Omerbašić, Naida Glotić, Zerina Alispahić, Ivona Krakić and Andrijana Reljić.

The Zmajice will play their first match at the Eurobasket on Saturday against the selection of Slovenia, and Group C also includes Hungary and France.