The Selection begins the Eurobasket this Thursday. His first rival is Latvia (20:00 Spanish time, Tdp), number 25 in the world ranking and 16 in the European. For Spain, this tournament is very special: after the crash of the last one, in 2021, it needs to give a coup of authority to show that it is not dead, that it was only a small setback in a cycle that has been glorious and that elevated it within of continental basketball.
And there is potential as he has shown since Miguel Méndez took command of the team: the balance is, right now, 15 wins and a single loss, against Hungary in the last friendly.
A collective force that is renewed every year and that places the National Team as number one to win gold, the fifth in its history, according to FIBA predictions. “His defense has normally been suffocating during preparation. They haven’t always been top level, but if they have trouble attacking, defense should help.”, points out the international organization, which ranks behind France (without Marine Johannes and Gabby Williams) and Serbia, the last champion. Emma Meesseman’s Belgium is in fourth position.
“We go with our feet on the ground. Our goal is to win every game. We are an ambitious team that all the teams want to win: France and Belgium go with the knife between their teeth”, assures Méndez, coach of a National Team whose first goal is qualifying for the Pre-Olympic (the best five plus France) and, from there, why not dream.