Spain has a golden chance. That she was able to declare herself world champion in the men’s U19 category at the big basketball event in Debrecen (Hungary) this Sunday. The team coached by Daniel Miret defeated Turkey this Saturday in the semi-finals with a demonstration of great physical and technical superiority (83-51) and will meet France in the final (20:00, Teledeporte), who tipped the scales with the elimination of the team Big favorite and king of the last two editions was the United States, 89-86.
For Spain it will be an opportunity to take over the unforgettable generation of Gold Juniors at the helm of the World Cup, the group that defeated the United States in Lisbon in 1999 and opened a legendary era. In this group, Raúl López, Juan Carlos Navarro, Felipe Reyes and Pau Gasol stood out… Today it is Jordi Rodríguez, Baba Miller, Lucas Langarita and Izan Almansa who knock on the door of fame. They didn’t even leave crumbs against Türkiye. Thanks to high-intensity, physical and choreographic basketball, Spain gradually built an insurmountable lead on the scoreboard, well ahead of its rival in this area (49-24 in rebounds). Jordi Rodríguez, Joventut forward, banked with 20 points (four triples), five sacks and two assists.
Izan Almansa’s physical performance once again took over under the basket: 17 points and eight rebounds. The Murcian center, who embarked on the path to distinguish himself in the Overtime Elite Academy, a kind of high-performance center in the United States, will make the leap to the Development League next year with the Ignite team. He now collects appearances with the national team, with which he was the best player at the last U-17 World Cup and the U-18 European Championship. Nowadays it shines in Hungary again in its own light.
The Spanish team reached the final after beating Canada (56-83), France (88-69) and China (74-83) in the group stage and giving them a historic victory in the round of 16 in Lebanon: 102-20. In doing so, they left their rival with the lowest total score ever in a tournament of this category. Argentina also beat Spain 85-47 before meeting Turkey in the semifinals.
Last summer, Spain made it to all possible finals in the training categories, a record unsurpassed by any other team. Gold or silver hung around the necks of young Spaniards: European gold medals for the men and women under 20 and men under 18, and world silver medals for the men and women under 17 and European children under 17. -18 female and male and female under 16 years old. It was the basis for a magical summer that culminated with gold in the all-out men’s Eurobasket in Berlin, the most unexpected success of a group in the process of renewal and without most of the big stars of the past. And that there was continuity when the all-women team won silver at the European Championships last Sunday, worth gold for the changes in the group, the relief on the bench and the two-year absence from the international catwalk. Now it is again the youngest who ask to speak. With another final and a golden chance.
SPAIN, 83; Turkiye, 51
Spain: Villar (9), Garuba (10), Jordi Rodríguez (20), Miller (4), Almansa (17) – starting team –; García (0), Gómez (4), Moreno (0), Nogués (0), Onuetu (6), De Larrea (2) and Langarita (11).
Türkiye: Sivas (5), Buyuktuncel (2), Efeoglu (12), Yigitoglu (2), Yildizoglu (7) – starting team –; Demirel (3), Melih (7), Cal (0), Buyukcangaz (0), Cengiz (0), Konan (6) and Mestoglu (7).
Partially: 24-17, 25-14, 18-7 and 16-13.
Referee: Zalazar (Arg), Horozov (Bul) and Husayny (Can). They eliminated Cengiz.
Fönix Arena in Debrecen (Hungary).
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