Basketball
Nicolas BATUME: “I’m afraid to go home”
The 34-year-old striker, captain of the France national team Nicolas Batumi He took responsibility for the defeat from Latvia (86:88) and the team’s departure from the 2023 World Cup.
“We came here with high expectations and disappointed a lot of people, especially ourselves and our fans.
Our strength is defense. We are one of the top three teams in defense in every tournament. Latvia scored more than 23 points in three quarters. Not like us.
I needed to be one of the people who would demonstrate their leadership qualities, set an example and lead the team. I didn’t and it’s my fault.
I’ve suffered heavy defeats, but this is the hardest. You can say you struggled when you lost in the quarter-finals, semi-finals, but we couldn’t even pass the first round here.
I’ve never been ashamed to play for the national team before, but now I’m afraid to go home. “I am ashamed to wear this jersey for the first time because many people believed in us,” said Batyum.
Source: Sport UA
Ralph Bean is a writer for Sportish. Ralph has written about sports news for the last two years, and is currently an author on the site. He enjoys writing about sports, and hopes to cover more stories in the future.