2023-08-29 14:24:25
How hard it was! The French basketball team ended up beating Lebanon (85-79) this Tuesday afternoon in Jakarta, but the Blues suffered enormously to overcome the weakest team in their group, 43rd nation in the world, previously crushed by Latvia (109-70) then Canada (128-73).
This painful victory reminds us of the extent to which Vincent Collet’s men are in difficulty in this World Cup, from which they have already been eliminated after two inaugural defeats against Canada (65-95) and Latvia (86-88).
The Lebanese, led by the match’s top scorer Wael Arakji (29 points), resisted the French for a long time, only giving in in the dying minutes. They were still leading at the start of the last quarter (59-58) before the Blues, in the wake of Guerschon Yabusele (18 points), Evan Fournier (17 points) and especially Elie Okobo (12 points) at the end of the match, do not make the difference.
“Mentally, it’s hard but we stayed united, welded”
The Lebanese were only three lengths behind with one minute remaining (82-79) and it took a winning shot from captain Nicolas Batum thirty seconds from the buzzer to seal the victory.
“It remains a victory, we wanted to react, greeted Nicolas Batum at the microphone of BeIN Sports without boasting. We were only 9 players without big men (Gobert, Lessort and Fall were forfeited), it was complicated after the disappointment. We too are very disappointed with what happened but we are a great team all the same, we are not dead, we will get up. »
“Mentally, it’s hard but we stayed united, welded, even if Lebanon played very well. We had a big lunch all together, between players, we tried to decompress, to laugh, to stay united between players. There are two games left (ranking), we have to win them, stay on a good image for the children watching us, we must not let go. We have a big competition next year (the 2024 Paris Olympics), we have to keep this spirit, not let go of this shirt and keep fighting. »
There are two classification matches left against Iran and Ivory Coast for the Blues, who can only finish 17th at best, before returning to France.
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