Vassilis Spanoulis and everyone on the Greek national team are focused on the goal of qualifying for the World Cup.
In his remarks at the start of training in preparation for the two qualifying games that will determine which teams advance, the national team coach emphasized that it’s not a matter of pressure, but that there is one and only one goal for everyone: qualifying for the World Cup.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
The main points of what he said: “There’s no pressure; there’s one goal we’ve set for ourselves: to qualify for the World Cup. Along the way, we all know the process—there will be both good and bad moments. We weren’t happy with our performance in the previous window; let’s not kid ourselves. Of course, we made a big deal out of just two poor performances. We understand that—nobody wants to lose. It happened, and now we need to get organized and perform better.
Everything’s fine; the guys are putting in a lot of effort. We still have a lot of work to do. We have a week and a little more to prepare. We’re focused on the match against Ukraine; we’re preparing for that game, and I’m sure we’ll show our best side.
I’ve realized that teams are different in every window. We have two weeks to prepare, and we also have two friendlies that will help us a lot. We have both the quality and the determination to put our best foot forward.
Right now, Ukraine is the only thing on our minds. The only thing that matters is how we’ll perform at our best, both physically and mentally. The guys are working hard. Everyone went on vacation; everyone rested. After a break, you need a week or 10 days to get back into the swing of things, so we’ve focused on certain areas that will help us.
There’s no pressure, just pride—and the fact that we didn’t like how we played in the last window. Let’s not focus only on the negative. This team won a medal a year ago. For better or worse, people expect one or two bad performances before piling on enormous pressure—and many are right to do so—but that doesn’t affect me. For me, the most important thing is managing situations, taking responsibility, recognizing your mistakes, and improving.
A coach always wants to have as many players as possible—or all of them. I focus on the ones who are here, and they’re putting in a tremendous effort.
There’s talent in Greece; there are talented young players who need to work very hard and stay humble. The ones who improve are the ones who will play basketball. If we could make it to the top four and win a medal, that would be something extra. But the most important thing isn’t the medal; what matters is that there is talent in Greece—there are players who can make it to the national team—and that’s the most encouraging message. The bottom line is to develop players.”
