The bad pimple of the national team

It’s been 18 years since Mark Forster filmed Finding Neverland, but the men’s national basketball team had to try their patience even more before they achieved their very own Neverland!

A country of Nie that once became his country on September 6, 2015 in Zagreb (Croatia-Greece 70-72), after two years in Helsinki (Finland-Greece 89-77) and again tonight (3/9) in Milan against Italy (22:00, ERT1 and LIVE from Sportish) will show whether it is hospitable or whether it will drive us away!

The original 2004 film starred Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Julie Christie, Rada Mitchell and Dustin Hoffman, while the Greek remake, directed by Fotis Katsikaris, starred Vassilis Spanoulis, Kostas Koufos, Yiannis Bourousis and Giorgos Printezis.

One win in 16 games

What does all this mean and why am I writing this before the game against Italy?

For the simple reason that the national team meets the hosts of the (41st) EuroBasket: This is certainly not the first time, but for the 17th time^theexcept that we don’t want to and it’s not in our interest to remember the first 14 and 16 that ended in defeat.

Starting with the distant 1949 in Cairo, where the Greek team was baptized into the pool of the European Championships and the national team for sixty-six years in a row did not win a game against the hosts, against whom it even played twice in some event (Yugoslavia/ 1989, Spain/2007) .

This series, after struggles and suffering, ended on the 15th^That in a series of games against the hosts of the EuroBasket, where we broke the pomegranate, cleaned our dirty nest a bit and found our way to Ithaca.

Zagreb, once his country!

Or rather, we found our way to the Land of Never, which we deservedly christened “Land of Once” on September 6, 2015 in Zagreb thanks to the 72-70 victory over Croatia!

Incidentally, today the Greek team meets the Azzurri for the third time in the four EuroBaskets hosted by Dante’s country: in 1979 they surrendered without a fight (81-52), while in 1991 they were the victim of an upset -15 which also included a referee’s finger!

So that on Saturday the evil is not trite and the Hellenistic period and not the Roman Empire is revived, devils!

From Cairo to Helsinki

So here are the 16 games the Greek team has played against the EuroBasket hosts so far, with a record of 15 losses and one win:

• 21 May 1949/Cairo: Egypt-Greece 50:39 (Egyptian champions, Greece third)

• April 29, 1961, Belgrade: Yugoslavia-Greece 86-57

• October 2, 1973/ Barcelona: Spain-Greece 86-74 (2^the Spain, 11^the Greece)

• June 9, 1979/Torino: Italy-Greece-Italy 81:52 (5^the Italy, 9^the Greece)

• 26.5.1981/Bratislava: Czechoslovakia – Greece 95-70 (3^the Czechoslovakia, 9^the Greece)

• May 27, 1983/Limoze: France-Greece 79-77 (5^the France, 11^the Greece)

• 20.06.1989/ Zagreb: Yugoslavia-Greece 103-68 (Champion Yugoslavia, 2^the Greece)

• 25.06.1989/ Zagreb: Yugoslavia-Greece 98-77 in the final (Champion Yugoslavia, 2^the Greece)

• 06/24/1991/Rome: Italy-Greece 82-72 (2^the Italy, 5^the Greece)

• 2.7.1993/Munich: Germany-Greece 76:73 in the semifinals (champion Germany, 4th^the Greece)

• 7.9.2007/Madrid: Spain-Greece 76:58 (2^the Spain, 4^the Greece)

• 09/15/2007/Madrid: Spain 82:77 in the semifinals (2^the Spain, 4^the Greece)

• 09/17/2011/ Kaunas: Lithuania – Greece 73:69 (5^the Lithuania, 6^the Greece)

• 14.09.2013/ Ljubljana: Slovenia-Greece 73:65 (5th^the Slovenia, 11^the Greece)

• September 6, 2015/ Zagreb: Croatia-Greece 70:72 (9^the Croatia, 5^the Greece)

• 5.9.2017/Helsinki: Finland – Greece 89:77 (11^the Finland, 8^the Greece)

Other news;

So while the national team had to wait 66 years to throw the hosts of a EuroBasket on the canvas, at the World Cup level they have two wins and two losses in four games against hosts, in Zaragoza in 1986 and in Ankara in 2010. It was played by Spain with 87-86 and Turkey 76-65 while beating Argentina 81-78 in Buenos Aires in 1990 and defeating Canada 74-71 four years later in Toronto.

At the Olympic Games level, the national team faced the Chinese at the 2008 Olympic tournament in Beijing, where they won 91-77.

I purposely leave out the pre-Olympic tournaments, as they are a big painful story in their own right!

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