They didn’t go very far, but in the end the Germans fell like dozens of teams before them on a Spain that was too clever, too established, too talented. A defeat which does not detract from an incredible course in this Euro, in “their” Euro, and a course which will also have to be initialed on Sunday with a bronze medal which will be, if it arrives, more than deserved. Come on, tribute.
Niels Giffey, Justus Hollatz, Maodo Lo, Andreas Obst, Dennis Schroder, Christian Sengfelder, Daniel Theis, Johannes Thiemann, Johannes Voigtmann, Franz Wagner, Nick Weiler-Babb, Jonas Wohlfarth-Bottermann dit Wobo. Gordon Herbert sur le banc.
These twelve gentlemen, thirteen counting the well-known druid of the French benches (he coached Paris and Pau in the mid-2000s) have therefore fulfilled their mission, even if the eyes are probably directed towards the ground at the time of these lines , the fault of this frustrating defeat once morest the… frustrating Spaniards. There will be a little final to play, despite everything, and once morest Poland it would be nice to end this incredible month of September on a good note, especially since – no disrespect for Ponitka and co. – the Germans deserve it. The tournament of feu la team ? A cold shower addressed to the French at the opening, gullible that we were, we said to ourselves that it was probably the pressure of the event. Yes but no, because this German team was simply ready, ready to fight and shock Europe. What she did rather well followingwards, you will agree, since, in order, Bosnia, Lithuania, Hungary, Montenegro and above all Greece were washed away by the German drum, led by a trio of NBAers on the job despite the notable absences of Maxi Kleber, Mo Wagner and Juergen Klinsmann. Dirk Nowitzki was treated to his ceremony in the middle of the Euro and surely sent himself large pints in the cone in front of the show, in front of a superstar Franz Wagner once morest the Lithuanians, in front of a Giannis Antetokounmpo drunk with life in the quarter-finals.
Dennis Schroder as a leader, he who ended up on a new mixtape in half, despite a last quarter in the Iberian trap, a Dennis who therefore learned in the shower that he would find himself once more at the start of the school year… the Lakers, we call that the domino effect. Franz Wagner in back-up and who has already taken half the bunch of keys to his country, Mamma what will it be like when he has full powers, and all around a bunch of shooting degenerates who will have taken advantage of the spaces offered in particular by Schroder and its top speed estimated at 420 km/h from a standing start. Andreas Obst, miserly in vowels but not in strings, Maodo Lo, a kind of Kyrie Irving a little more focused on collective alchemy, Niels Giffey or Weiler-Babb, so many snipers hidden and having played a bad trick on everyone or almost for fifteen days. Two or three logs in the racket and voila, the whole thing being motivated to the thousandth power by the public in Cologne and Berlin, obviously all committed to the cause of their unexpected heroes.
Eight games, six wins, the best offense of the tournament. Tournament not finished as we said, but tournament already successful. And in the near future, it will really not be good to take these Germans in the middle of summer, like this summer finally, except that now… we know it. Bravo gentlemen for the effort and for the skills, now finish the job on Sunday and we will applaud loudly before going to destroy the Spaniard for 40 minutes.
