We are getting to the heart of the matter today, after a day of rest which has been good for the organizations, we are also speaking for ourselves. Two matches on the program for this first day of quarter-finals, and if France will not play until tomorrow, the menu of the day is perfect for warming up. Send the program!
The program of the day
- 17h15 : Spain – Finland (live on Canal Plus Sport)
- 20h30 : Germany – Greece (live on Canal Plus Sport)
Spaniards in the quarter-finals of an international competition? Oh but what a surprise. We counted, by hand, that makes NINETEEN times in a row that La Roja reached the quarter-finals of the tournament in which it is participating, and we must therefore go back to the Sydney Games in 2000 to find the trace of a Spain which leaves a competition prematurely. Rudy Fernandez and his teammates who will face today at 5:15 p.m. Finland, not quite the same delirium in terms of prize list since the Scandinavian nation had not achieved such a Euro for 55 years and a sixth place during a European championship organized at home in the snow, between Helsinki and Tampere. We are therefore on a gaping hole between two nations at the antipodes in terms of history, but beware all the same of this incredible Finnish team and, of course, its leader Lauri Markkanen, in an absolutely monstrous mood since the start of the Euro. 27.8 points on average since the start of the Euro, only Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic are doing better, 43 pawns sent to Croatia in the round of 16, sorry, and therefore a Lauri with an idea in mind when going to top Spaniards sure of their strength and therefore always there despite strong forces… precisely seeming less lively than usual. The Gasol brothers have been replaced by the Hernangomez brothers, on paper it’s a bit funny, but whoever has seen La Roja evolve on this Euro will have quickly understood that regardless of the names the game remains the same, terribly academic and above all terribly effective . Can Finns do it? Start of response at 5:15 p.m. in Berlin!
A little later in the evening we will – logically – be offered this Tuesday’s main event, with a meeting between a man and a country, between a cyborg and an army, between a basketball team and a full house. We are talking about Giannis Antetokounmpo for Greece, a kind of demi-god of basketball not far from having won everything in his sporting life (except… with Greece) against a refreshing German team and who are currently achieving a superb Euro . Dennis Schroder, Franz Wagner and Daniel Theis will therefore try once again to ignite Berlin after coming close to correctional in the eighth against Montenegro, while the Greeks will have the mission to start their match before the last quarter, quite the opposite of their eighth against the Czechs during which the awakening will have been very long. Greeks who are still the favorites of this Euro with Slovenia but who will have to be wary because an exit from the road is quick to come, especially against a team that will be pushed by a screaming room and ready to experience a legendary evening.
The bracket
Tomorrow’s program
- 17h15 : France – Italy
- 20h30 : Slovenia – Poland
Two matches on the program, and the winners of each of these two quarters who will face each other in the semi-finals on Friday for a place in the final. Spain – Greece in the semi-finals? Spain – Germany? Greece… Finland? Place your bets, here we get into the hard part!