The Swedish men's national basketball team has started the road to the World Cup.
But it did not turn out to be the start one had wanted.
Away against Portugal, the Swedes lost 77-79.
But a blue-yellow turn was near.
With less than five minutes left to play, Sweden was down by twelve points, and when a little more than half a minute remained, it was a tie.
However, the Portuguese managed to score two points and put an end to the subsequent Swedish attack and finally salvaged the victory.
It is noteworthy that Marcus Eriksson, everyday in German Alba Berlin, was back in the national team jersey for the first time since February 2018.
The best scorer in Blue and Yellow was Chris Czerapowicz with 16 points.
After Sweden missed qualification for the European Basketball Championship next year, they instead got a place in the pre-qualification for the World Cup qualifier, which starts in November.
And despite the initial loss, the chance lives on to the highest degree.
Luxembourg also plays in Sweden's group in the qualifiers.
The teams meet twice each where the two best advance to the World Cup qualifiers.
The qualifiers are played in a bubble in Portuguese Matosinhos.