Spanou: “The matches against Germany and Italy are a challenge for the national team”

Her preparation Women’s National Team for the second “window” of the qualifying phase of EuroBasket 2025 continues in the “Dimitris Kaltsas” indoor gym, with the federal coach, Petros Prekas, aiming to “tie” the team in a short period of time, and the players to cope with the requirements of the difficult matches with Germany on Thursday (7/11) in Hagen and Italy on Sunday (10/11) in Chalkida.

“Yesterday (3/11) we started training in a very good mood but also with Mariella returning to the team, something that will definitely give extra strength to the team. Both Thursday’s match against Germany at home and Sunday’s match against Italy will be a challenge for us“, says the captain of the National team, Artemis Spanou and adds.

“It will be two strong games which, on the one hand, will help us to see competitively at what level we are and on the other hand, to see if in the short time we have at our disposal to prepare, we will manage to “bond” again as a team and play according to with the coach’s philosophy, while all the players come from other coaches’ and teams’ philosophies. We are going to win both games, play as well as we can this season and benefit from the matches as much as possible».

– You will compete with Germany for the first time in this qualifying phase, a few months after the very good performance it had at the Olympic Games in Paris, where it also made its maiden appearance in the event. Do you think that the match with her is a strong test for Greece?

“Certainly! For the last two years, Germany has been considered a superpower in Europe! He has a very good team with experienced players. Indeed, it will be a strong test for us through which we will see where we are at the moment. I hope that on Thursday we will all be ready both psychologically and competitively to face a difficult opponent”.

– In any case, unlike Germany, with Italy you had played in the first “window”, at their home ground. The fact that the two teams have secured their participation in the Eurobasket, so you are playing to “test” your strength, can it put the result in second place? Do you think it is a small “trap”?

“The truth is that from the moment we know that we are already in EuroBasket 2025, there is a safety “cushion”. However, this cannot be secondary to the result. Our team’s mentality is also such that we don’t want to put the result in second place. We will go to the fight to win! Compared, after all, to Germany, Italy is an opponent closer to our standards. We may have been defeated in the first match, but in the second, which will be held in our country and we will have the world with us, we will claim the positive result. We want to win and show Europe that Greece is included among the teams that can be considered competitive, especially in view of EuroBasket in 2025″.

– You mentioned the people who last year, around this time, had proven with their presence at the indoor gym “Tasos Kampouris” in Chalkida that they are close to the Women’s National Team. Do you expect to see something similar next Sunday against Italy?

“Yes! Chalkida and its public have shown that they love us and we love them. In the stadium where the match will take place we have played several games in the past and the crowd had responded. We want the same to happen this time. Let the stadium be filled, the fans become the sixth player of the team and give us the impetus to achieve the goal we have set!”.