BERLIN — After what he called the “best day in German basketball,” Germany coach Olaf Lange is hopeful that kids watching the host team’s exploits at the women’s FIBA World Cup are inspired to try and emulate them some day.
Germany defeated European champion Belgium 93-74 on Thursday to reach the semifinals for the first time, delighting partizan supporters in the Berlin Arena and generating even more excitement for fans who have been waiting outside the team hotel for glimpses of the players during the tournament. Germany had not even qualified for the World Cup since the unified country’s only previous appearance as host in 1998. East Germany’s women’s basketball team finished fourth at the 1967 tournament.
Because we wouldn’t have a World Cup in our own country, our federation wouldn’t invest money to have that if we didn’t already have success, “But at the same time, the World Cup is also a reflection of what happened before,.
When we leave the arena, there’s little kids on the side, they all want autographs,” Lange said. So, this is incredible,” he said. Lange said his team’s progression to the semifinals is “as much a reflection of what happened in the past as it is an inspiration for our youth going forward.
“When we leave the gym here, there’s hundreds of fans. “Our young generation – hopefully all basketball players-to-be – seeing our players at the top, world, competing on this level, gracefully, and it’s hard, it’s physical, but it’s fair. It’s an incredible motivation for young kids to aspire to play. Several players in Germany’s World Cup squad play in the WNBA, including Leonie Fiebich, Luisa Geiselsöder, Nyara Sabally and Frieda Bühner. “We can have always more talent to play, especially on the girls’ side. Germany will play France in Saturday’s semifinal, but Lange wasn’t looking forward just yet – he preferred to enjoy what his team had achieved in his home town so he could savor it a little more. He refused to answer a journalist’s question about the next opponent.
