Earlier this month, Croatian basketball team learnt that they will have one more chance to try to qualify for the Olympic Games in Rio. A draw for the qualifying tournament was held yesterday, and Croatia was not lucky.
Croatian basketball team will play in Group B in Turin, Italy. The opponents in the group will be Tunisia and Italy. Group A, which will also play its matches in Turin, includes Greece, Mexico and Iran. They are also potential opponents for Croatia since the two best-placed teams from each group will play a mini-tournament of their own. Just one team from each of the three host cities of qualifying tournaments (Turin, Manila and Belgrade) will get a chance to take part in the Olympics.
Groups playing in Belgrade include Serbia, Angola, Puerto Rico, Japan, the Czech Republic, and Latvia. Turkey, Senegal, Canada, France, New Zealand and the Philippines will play their matches in Manila.
Croatia’s road to Rio will certainly be long and hard. “We have to roll up our sleeves, unite as never before, and try to bring join to our fans. The dream of every athlete is to compete at the Olympic Games”, said Croatian national team member Rok Stipčević.
Kruno Simon was quite satisfied. “Better this than Thrilla in Manila! I love Ali and Frazier, but I wanted a group playing in Turin. The group is tough, but we can qualify, we can compete with Italy and Greece. At least, we have some chance! The atmosphere will be tense, but we must defeat somebody if we want to play at the Olympics”, said Simon. “Italians are very strong, they have four or five great players, mostly coming from the NBA, but we should not be afraid.”
Josip Vranković, a former Croatian national team coach, was the representative of the Croatian Basketball Association at the draw. “We are not sure whether all the teams will bring their best players. For example, in Greece, there have been a lot of reports that their best players will not take part. I believe we can be equal to everyone. Croatia can do a lot”, says Vranković.
The national team now knows its opponents, but it still does not know who will be the team coach. Velimir Perasović’s contract has expired, and it is doubtful whether the team captain Roko Ukić will play. Who could be the new coach? Jasmin Repeša is one of those being mentioned. When he was the national team coach in 2008, Croatia took part in the Olympic tournament in Beijing, and prior to that, he was very successful at a qualifying tournament in Greece. In addition, with him at the helm Croatia reached semi-finals of the European Championships in Slovenia, defeating both Greece and Italy. Maybe the history would repeat itself once more.
