Tokyo 2021-Basketball: Pau Gasol's farewell to the Spanish team
El español Pau Gasol la hunde em el partido contra Argentina por los JJOO el 29 de julio en Saitama Thomas COEX AFP
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4 min
After Spain's defeat in the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Games against the United States on Tuesday, August 3, Pau Gasol announced his international retirement with La Roja.
In Japan, he was living his fifth Olympics.
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“
It's my last match with Spain, we'll see if it's the last of my career.
Thank you all for always being there.
From the bottom of my heart
”.
After the defeat of the Spanish selection in the quarter-finals against the United States, it was time for emotion for his legendary pivot Pau Gasol.
The Americans, triple reigning Olympic champions, and their NBA stars bluntly dismissed Spain (95-81) to qualify for the semi-finals.
As in the final in Beijing in 2008, then in London in 2012, La Roja suffered the law of the United States.
Three medals at the Games
"
This elimination will not tarnish 20 wonderful years and the possibility of having been able to come here
", promises Pau Gasol, who, at 41, was participating in his fifth Olympic Games. With La Roja, the FC Barcelona player has gleaned three medals at the Games, two silver and one bronze. Against Team USA, he was little involved, playing six minutes without scoring a point. Just like his brother Marc, silent in ten minutes of presence and who also confirmed after the match that he will not continue to wear the jersey of the selection.
“
In sport, you can never know.
Especially when you meet a team like the United States ... I am grateful to everyone for being able to participate in these Olympics,
"said the former Los Angeles Lakers player, who returned in time from an injury. at one foot having kept him two years away from the prosecution.
“
You can really overcome anything if you put your mind and your heart into it.
Just the fact that I was able to come back and play and be competitive was a great achievement.
Now I'm going to have to talk to my family and see if it's worth it to continue playing in a club or to find other goals in life,
”concludes the winner of two NBA Finals.
Americans, tough competition
By winning the way against the reigning world champions Spain, who many saw armed to take a nice revenge and strike a big blow in Tokyo, the Americans reminded the competition ready to challenge them that they remained the favorites. of this tournament. The great architect of their victory was named, unsurprisingly, Kevin Durant, author of 29 points (4 assists, 2 interceptions) who delivered a superb duel of scorers from a distance with Ricky Rubio, a formidable scoring machine (38 pts, at 13/20) which kept Spain afloat for a long time.
With this victory, the Americans obviously avoided enormous disillusionment.
Above all, they strengthened their confidence capital, undermined by their defeat against France at the opening of the tournament and a preparation poisoned by the Covid (Bradley Beal, tested positive, package), not to mention the late arrival of Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday and Devin Booker after the NBA Finals.
For Spain, the reigning world champion, the disappointment of no longer being in a position to bring home a medal is necessarily great.
She pays dearly for her misstep in the group stage against Slovenia, which sent her straight to the ogre USA.
This premature exit therefore marks the end of the international career of the immense Pau Gasol, who dreamed of gold for his fifth Olympiad.
With AFP
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