Papadopoulos: “We will give everything for a medal”

The coach of the National Youth Men’s National Team, Kostas Papadopoulos, declared that he is determined to fight with the players for a medal at the U20 Eurobasket in Gdynia, ahead of tomorrow’s semi-final against France (21:30).

In detail, his statements on EEC Web Radio:

For the win over Lithuania: “The children gave their all, they wanted it very much, they were very determined. Sometimes that counts more than tactics. They showed tremendous passion, again we found energy from the defense and in the attack, for most of the match, we were focused on our plan. Lithuania is a very good team, last year we lost in the group. Physically they are much taller than us, I would say a bit stronger than us. With our passion and teamwork, because the children are very united inside and outside the field, we succeeded and got a very important victory”.

For tomorrow’s (20/07) semi-final with France: “We have taken the difficult path. France is last year’s champion. This year we played in the group, we lost in the details and that gives us a hope. Now we watch our mistakes, what we can improve, so that we look more ready tomorrow and try to get the win. The French are huge in size. We entered the group stage a bit scared, I think that tomorrow we will not enter like this, we will enter more determined. We promise that we will be there every step of the way. With luck we will achieve everything.”

On whether the course of the National Youth Team will be considered successful even if it does not get a medal: “For us it’s not over yet. We will give everything. We had a meeting in the morning and said that we will continue like this, keep our heads down and give everything. And tomorrow you will see children falling down, fighting in every phase. I am very proud of them, because they have made tremendous sacrifices. Other groups go out, walk, ours, without us telling them anything, they are here focused, resting, watching videos by themselves.”