Milos Theodsic Photo: The Srpska Times
The Latvian men’s basketball team may cause inconvenience to Serbia in its qualification for the first opponent in the 2023 World Cup, emphasizes the captain of the team called “Eagles” Miloš Teodosičs. Latvian basketball players will start the selection for the 2023 World Cup in Belgrade on Thursday with a match against Serbia. The Latvians started the fight for the ticket already in August, when they won all four games in the pre-qualification.
“We are starting a long qualifying cycle in which each game will play an important role. The Latvian national team can cause us inconvenience, they are definitely much more playful than us, but I am convinced that we can win them with an energetic game, ”quotes Teodosiča of the Serbian Basketball Federation.
The coach of the Serbian national team Svetislav Pešičs also points out that Latvia has played better, while the Serbs came together only a few days ago. “We can make up for the lack of play with the fighting spirit that basketball players have already shown these days. This raises optimism. Audience support will also be important. We may not be in the optimal line-up, but the audience can help us get better, ”says Pešičs.
Of the ULEB Euroleague basketball players, only Aleksa Uskokovič, the leader of the Crvena zvezda match in Belgrade, remains on the list of candidates for the Serbian national team. The Latvian men’s basketball team will compete with the national teams of Serbia, Belgium and Slovakia in the 2023 World Cup qualifiers. This summer, Latvians won a pre-qualification tournament in their field in Riga and won a place in a qualifying competition.
In the first qualifying round, 32 European Zone teams are divided into eight groups of four each. There will be two games with each group team – one at home, one away. The games are scheduled in three windows: November 20-30, February 21 – March 1 (2022), June 27 – July 5 (2022). The three strongest teams in each group will enter the second round of the qualifying tournament, where they will play six more games. In this round, the games will take place on August 22-30, November 7-15, February 20-28 (2023). There will be two games in each of the windows.
The three strongest teams of the four groups will reach the World Cup main event. A total of 12 national teams from the European area will qualify for the World Cup. The final of the World Cup in September 2023 will take place in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Composition of the Serbian national team
Jovans Novaks, Dušans Rističs (abi – Fuenlavradas “Urbas”, Spain), Milošs Teodosičs (Boloņas “Virtus”, Italy), Nikola Rebičs (Vaisenfelsas “Mitteldeutscher”, Vācija), Dragans Apičs (Zelona Guras “Zastal”, Poland), Dalibors Ilics, Aleksa Radanovs (abi – Laktasi “Igokea”, Bosnia and Herzegovina), Balsa Koprivica, Aleksa Avramovic, Uros Trifunovic, Nemanja Dangubic, Rade Zagoracs, Alens Smailagic (hanging – Belgrade “Partizan”), Aleksa Belgradkosvena star ”), Nikola Jovičs, Nikola Džurišičs (abi – Belgradas“ Mega Mozzart ”), Marko Jagodičs Kurica (Podgorica“ Buducnost Voli ”, Melnkalne).
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