Goodbye to the Olympic selection. Ukraine national team lost to Croatia

Croatia and Ukraine national teams held the 2024 Olympics qualifying semi-final match. The duel took place in Istanbul (Türkiye) and ended with the victory of the Croatian team.

The start of the fight was a disaster for our team. Almost five minutes into the first quarter, the Ukrainians had only 2 points. The break taken by Stepanovsky, the coach of the yellow-blues, positively affected the morale of the Ukrainian basketball team. Nominal guests began to reduce the difference in score by adjusting their game. At the first timeout, the teams left with +7# in favor of the Croatian national team.

The second quarter started with Pustovoy’s two productive attacks and then the teams hit each other on target. The Blue-Yellows managed to level the score, but that was in the last match where the result was even. Before the big break, the Croats organized another breakthrough and finished the quarter with “+6” in their favor.

At the beginning of the third quarter and in the starting part of the match, the Ukrainians were unsuccessful. This allowed the Croatians to make a breakthrough with a score of 14:0 and virtually remove questions about the winner of the match. In the future, the titular owners calmly held the comfortable difference in their favor. The fourth quarter passed without the slightest intrigue and the downside for us was Kravtsov’s injury, who could not finish the game.

The winning Croatian national team will face the winner of the Turkey-Sweden match in the qualifying final.

Pre-qualification for the 2024 Olympics. 1/2 finals.

Croatia – Ukraine – 85:70 (24:17, 18:19, 26:16, 17:18)

Croatia: Filippovich (10), Smith (9), Badzim (2), M. Dreznyak, Khezonia (22 + 5 rebounds), Cabbage (4), Lubichich, Perkovic, Prkachin, Sarich (18 + 8 rebounds), D. Dreznyak, Teeth (20 + 7 rebounds)

Ukraine: Kovlyar (20 + 8 assists), Krutous (2), Voinalovich (3), Bobrov (7), Kravtsov (15), Zotov (8), Tyrtyshnik, Mishula (5), Chumakov, Pustovoy (10)

Sinan Erdem Dome Arena (Istanbul, Türkiye)

CROATIA – UKRAINE. TEXT BROADCAST OF THE MATCH