Georgian basketball national team will play their pre-last match of the 2011 European Championship qualifying round in a small city of Fafe in Portugal.
Our today’s opponent is the team that nearly beat Belgium away from home however could not maintain the advantage leading 63:62 just 30 seconds before the final buzzer.
Before that unfortunate defeat, Portuguese players beat at home, as predicted at the beginning of the qualifying stage group favorites, Poland. This is a great sign of Portugal strength for the Georgian side. In despite of the fact that Moncho Lopez’s team lost their last fixture, Portugal is in a great shape which was proved during the away clash with Belgium.
On the other hand, Lopez needs to figure out how to deal with all the injuries players got because very tight schedule – 3 games in 6 days. One of the biggest concerns for the coach will be the injury of the teams’ key point guard – Miguel Minava who got injured in a game against Poland. Therefore he missed Portugal’s trip to Belgium and will not appear on parquet today against Georgian team.
According to the Portuguese media the list of injured players also includes Andre Pinto, Jaime Silva, and Francisco Gordao. Chesham Evans which is considered as Portugal’s most valuable players may also miss out today’s encounter since he missed yesterday’s practice.
Due to lack of so many players, Coach Lopez added two players to the squad list which are Jose Barbosa (“Ovarense”) and Fernando Souza (“Akademika”).
Here, we introduce you some of the players’ commentary before the game:
Zaza Pachulia (Captain of team Georgia): “I have injured my knee long time ago. It disturbed me periodically however I feel better thanks to our teams’ doctors. I will play in the match against Portugal.”
David Ustiashvili (Coach of team Georgia): “Portuguese shoot three-pointers pretty well. They are ready to attack from any spot of perimeter. In order to prevent this we should oppose them with a respective defensive tactic.”
Manuchar Markoishvili (Player of team Georgia): “We desire to win and I think we will play better. We should change the attitude of our spectators which they have made up after the last match. Unfortunately, situation in our group does not give us opportunity to rely on ourselves, only”
Moncho Lopez (Head Coach of team Portugal): “We awaiting a very difficult match. After a defeat in Belgium our chances decreased significantly however we are not planning to give up. We should justify fans’ hope.”
Chesham Evans (Player of team Portugal): “Georgia is a favorite if we look from the first game’s perspective. That does not mean, however, that we will be on the follow up during the game. Our team is in great form. It is true that we have some injuries but the boys have recognized the taste of victory and will try to succeed today as well.”
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