By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
The Serbian national team needs one win from the last two qualifying matches to secure its place in the 2023 FIBA World Cup, and against Greece (24/02) will play with CSKA Moscow players Nikola Milutinov and Dejan Davidovac, as well as Bayern Munich’s Ognjen Jaramaz in the team.
Serbian Basketball Federation arranged the arrival of two important players from Russia, while Bayern Munich permitted Jaramaz to join Svetislav Pesic’s squad, despite playing against Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv in Round 25 of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague on February 23.
As coach Pesic confirmed, the CSKA Moscow duo will be at his disposal only for the match against Greece in Athens, while Jaramaz can play against Great Britain in Belgrade’s last game of qualifications (27/02).
“It’s important that Milutinov and Davidovac are here, but we’ll have them only for Friday. After the game in Athens, they will pack and return to Moscow to play in the VTB league. They didn’t receive clearance for the second match. Of EuroLeague players, only Jaramaz can play. Spanish clubs are not letting their players, and the rest also have a regular round to play,” Svetislav Pesic said.
Crvena Zvezda and Partizan have important games in the fight for the EuroLeague playoffs this week, so their players might be at Pesic’s disposal only for the match against Great Britain.
The complete list of players with the Serbian national team for the game in Athens against Greece includes 16 players: Nikola Milutinov and Dejan Davidovac (CSKA Moscow), Ognjen Jaramaz (Bayern Munich), Marko Jeremic (Cedevita Olimpia), Nemanja Dangubic (Promitheas), Marko Pecarski (Mornar Bar), Nikola Djurisic and Aleksa Uskokovic (Mega), Stefan Jovic and Borisa Simanic (Zaragoza), Aleksa Radanov (Peristeri), Dusan Ristic (Galatasaray), Dusan Beslac (Vojvodina), Marko Jagodic Kuridza (Buducnost), Dusan Miletic (Girona) and Nikola Saranovic (FMP) who will only train with the national team.
With a 5-3 score, Serbia is sitting in second place in qualifying Group I, with Latvia already secured its place at the 2023 FIBA World Cup (7-1), while Greece is third with 5-3, and Turkey and Belgium follow with 3-5.
Serbia has an advantage in a tiebreaker with Turkey, but not against Belgium, while it defeated Greece in Belgrade in their first match in late August.