By Niki Bakouli/ bakouli@eurohoops.net
The relief of Slovenia was evident in Mirza Begic’s face. In 14 hours after their quarterfinal defeat by France, the Eurobasket hosts got the win over Serbia and secured a spot in the upcoming FIBA World Cup. That’s good enough, as Begic told Eurohoops: “We lost a very important game against France, we were very tired mentally and physically. We couldn’t go early to sleep, nobody could sleep, but we won the game against Serbia, we played like a team and with the help of our fans we got what we wanted”.
Begic admits that the World Cup qualification was the main goal of his team: “It was a very important game for us, we wanted to be next summer in FIBA World Cup and we gave our best. That was our main goal. Everybody would like to be the champion, but France was very strong and they had a good night against us”.
As for himself, he is ready for the new challenge of his career as a player of Euroleague champion Olympiacos: “We need to rest for the next day. After the tournament I will have five days off and then I will go to Athens for Olympiacos. I have already talked with the coaches there and I can’t wait to start practicing with my new team”.