Basketball World Cup: Germany beats the United States and reaches the final

Basketball World Cup, semi-finals

Germany wins a thrilling crime match against the US Superstars and takes the World Cup crown

Friday, September 8, 2023 | 8:39 pm

USA – Germany 111:113 (31:33, 29:26, 24:35, 27:19)

The basics in brief: German basketball players reached their first historic World Cup final with a stunning victory over the USA. The team, led by captain Dennis Schröder, defeated the Olympic champions on Friday in Manila with a score of 113:111 (59:60) and is now playing against Serbia for the World Championship title. Led by the outstanding Franz Wagner (22 points) and the nearly unstoppable Andreas Obst (24), Germany challenged the NBA's superstars in impressive fashion. This was the biggest win for the national team since winning the European Championship in 1993. Midfielder Daniel Theis (21 points) also contributed greatly to highlighting the history of German basketball.

Young stars Wagner and Schroeder (17 points) and their team can crown an entire generation on Sunday at the huge Mall of Asia Arena. Even if they lose in the final to Serbia, Germany have already secured a World Cup medal – 21 years to the day after they claimed bronze at Indianapolis 2002, their only World Cup medal to date.

FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 at MagentaSport

USA vs. Germany – the biggest duels at a glance

Germany vs USA, this is a basketball duel with history. However, even in the best of times yet with former star Dirk Nowitzki, the challenger has been unable to defeat the favorite. The World Cup semi-final in Manila on Friday (2:40pm/MagentaSport) is the biggest duel between the two countries to date. review.

“Green vs. Wade bloc”

Saitama's arrival in the quarter-finals meant Germany's exit from the 2006 World Cup. But at the 65:85 minute, an amazing scene between the German Diamond Green and the American star Dwyane Wade remained in the memory of the fans, a scene that the then commentator Frank Buschmann described on the air: “Block Green vs. Wade, what a brutal bloc. crazy. What a defensive move. I wanted to stuff the calf – and it was picked.” Years later, Green was allowed to answer questions about the campaign and spoke of it as “a wonderful campaign.”

Victory with siren

Rarely have Germany come so close to beating the United States as they did in August 2004. In a test match, Nowitzki's team stayed put until the final minute. Then Nowitzki converted a three-pointer a few seconds before the end to make it 77:77, and the atmosphere in the stadium in Cologne filled the air. The lead camera missed the next game-winning layup from Allen Iverson, who converted it on a straight return from almost halfway.

Defeated by 49 points

In Beijing 2008 there was no drama, just complete defeat. 57:106 was one of the heaviest defeats suffered by the German team in the entire Nowitzki era. At the time, the USA played their best lineup ever with stars like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony. A few days later, the front-runner also won the expected gold medal. Germany was eliminated around flag-bearer Nowitzki in the preliminary round.

Duel in the desert

On August 20, the two countries met at a demonstration event organized by the United States of America in the desert. The duel was stunning, with Germany leading by 16 points at one point, but ultimately losing 91:99. National coach Gordon Herbert also cited fatigue as a reason after the 24-hour test against Greece. Compared to Abu Dhabi, nothing has changed in the team, so everything is ready for revenge on the big World Cup stage.