A new challenge awaits the Georgian national team: it has to overcome 2 stages to qualify for the World Cup 2023. The first qualifying groups were selected today as a result of a draw held in Switzerland. The Georgian national team coached by Ilias Zouros got into the penultimate – Group G along with Spain, Ukraine and North Macedonia. The results of the draw were evaluated by the head coach of our national team…
– Now it is difficult to make accurate estimates, because it is far from the end of November and we do not know what kind of roster will have both our opponents and us. Part of the games intersect with the Euroleague calendar and we do not know exactly whether we will have players competing in this tournament during such periods. We also do not know what kind of pandemic situation will be in November and which team will lack which players…
– If we discuss them one by one, all the opponents are quite strong and accountable, especially Spain and Ukraine. No matter how we approach it, Spain is among the leaders in the world and this is confirmed by the results of every top ranking tournament. Ukraine is a very strong team, especially when it has a full roster. We personally experienced this when we lost to Ukraine at EuroBasket 2017 and could not leave the group because of it. At that time Ukraine had an optimal roster and we also had a pretty strong team. The Ukrainians do not have leading experienced players in the Euroleague and the NBA and they will probably be able to gather a full squad. Such Ukraine is really strong.
– We do not know North Macedonia that well, but since it has come so far, this team can really put up a solid resistance – especially within its own walls. So, we have to fight with all the opponents and in my estimation, we got into a pretty strong group.
– The fans are like this: after the draw results, they start dreaming and plan not only for the next, but also for other stages. I would like to tell you that our goal is to leave the group first, as well as to fight to the end in every match. If we can guarantee getting out of the group, only then can we think about bringing as many points as possible in the second group stage. This will be the case if we adhere to one of our main principles, which I mentioned above, and which means maximum mobilization in each match and fighting to the end for victory. I find it unprofessional to talk about what will happen in the future, it’s not correct to do the calculations openly. Our goal is the first match, then the second and so on. We have to go step by step and we will achieve success only this way.
