The next day for the Greek national team started … yesterday

It wasn’t the most soul-crushing qualifying operation in the history of the national team, but it was certainly one that “did” under special circumstances.

It lasted 459 days, from that improbable defeat in Newcastle at the hands of Great Britain, to a negative result also by Latvia, and included 11 matches, the call-up of dozens of athletes and 39 children who each did their part to help Greece find another place. Big event, World Cup 2023.

On the evening of February 27, the “plain” was over. Or “difficult”, as everyone sees it. For some, the “windows” were and remain a necessary evil, for others it turned out to be a first-class opportunity for the world to see the national team at home, to fill the stadiums in Larissa, Heraklion and Ano-Leusya together to watch and support new faces, children who, under other circumstances, would not return. Never go home wearing a Greece shirt.

1. Costas Papanicolaou
2. Dimitris Agrafanes
3. Giannoulis Larentzakis
4. Panagiotis Kalitzakis
5. Michaelis Launtzis
6. Kostis Jundicas
7. Vassilis Moratos
8. Dimitris Moraitis
9. Nikos Gekas
10. Tyler Dorsey
11. Nick Calathes
12. Kostas Slukas
13. Nikos Rogavopoulos
14. Lefteris Bohorides
15. Giorgos Tsalbouris
16. Leonidas Kasilakis
17. Yoannis Kosloglu
18. John Antikonmo
19. Thanasis Antikonmou
20. Vassilis Charalampopoulos
21. Kostas Antikonmo
22. Michaelis Tserelis
23. Yiannopoulos guard
24. Dimitris Kaklamanakis
25. Nikos Hugas
26. Manolis Hatzidakis
27. Ioannis Papapetrou
28. Dimitris Katsivelis
29. George Prentice
30. Vassilis Toliopoulos
31. Vasilis Kavadas
32. Linus Chrysikopoulos
33. Dimitris Flonis
34. Christos Sallustros
35. George Papathanasio (George Pappas)
36. Homer Netzipoglou
37. George Papgiannis
38. Lefteris Mantzoukas
39. George Tanolis

All of them, instead of forty athletes, helped count down two dates. On April 29, so that we know if Greece will travel to Manila (Philippines), Jakarta (Indonesia) or Okinawa (Japan) for the first stage of the Mundobasket, but also on August 25, when the Mega Ball will be staged.

There, in the tournament that many considered Greece to possess, there would be no superpowers in world basketball. Argentina eliminated by the Dominican Republic for example, the team that played in the 2019 World Cup Final in Beijing and lost to Spain. Nigeria didn’t make it, the Czech Republic didn’t make it, and Brazil was almost eliminated, beating an indifferent United States in … delay.

“Don’t take it for granted“Tell the Americans about any success. It took a march, it took determination, it took a lot of risk to take,” says Giannis Antetokounmpo often too, who knows firsthand the demands being made on him. Greece’s qualification should not be taken for granted. They are there, to support her in the first leg against Belgium which was the whole trip to Asia.

What people need to understand is that everyone plays basketball now. Iceland is also playing, having missed qualification by one throw. Also playing is Cape Verde, an island nation of 562,000 people that made history as the youngest country in Mundo Basket history. Iran also plays basketball, South Sudan also plays basketball, an 11-year-old country in which Luol Deng presides from the position of president of the federation to the position of technical director.

The sport is moving forward. It has spread to every corner of the planet and a few days ago the Secretary General of the International Basketball Federation, Andreas Zagles, explained to us. At Basketball Without Borders in Salt Lake City we’ve seen kids from Madagascar and from Egypt, all developing and all wanting to be involved in events like next summer. That’s why it shouldn’t start working, but it did start since … yesterday.

EEC President Vangelis Leulius has flown to Milwaukee and the National Team General Manager, Nikos Zissi, will be there shortly so they can meet the Bucks, Giannis and Thanasis Antetokounmpo people. Just as there was rallying in those 459 Days of Qualifiers and the EuroBasket that came in between, so there must be rallying on the Road to Asia. It must be greater than ever.

Guys like Papanikolaou, Slukas and Kalathis are slowly entering the end of their prime. Giannis is the best in the world and should be supported to the point of superlatives. The supporting cast with Larentzakis, Papapetrou, Papagianni and Costas Antetokounmpo is excellent and youngsters like Luntzis, Moraitis, Rogavopoulos, Flionis and Toliopoulos will be there to claim a spot in the top 10 alongside the irreplaceable Tyler Dorsey but letting a season to slip from his hands In any case, he is a child who needs special management.

For now, the only thing that can be done is for everyone to forget about the qualifying stage and try to convince the athletes that they have another golden opportunity to make history this summer.

Mundobasket is not as demanding as EuroBasket, at least in its inception, it’s just that the trip will be long, conditions will be different from those in Milan and Berlin, and in the middle of it all there will be paranoia from the fans, especially in the Philippines, which the people of the National Manage and exclude them in one way or another.

The anticipation for this World Cup is high, the three countries that will host the tournament have a combined population of more than 510 million people and the Philippine Arena is preparing to host the finals in an atmosphere like never before.

And Greece will be there, we hope, to achieve what has eluded it from 2009 onwards.

Another great summer is coming…