Serbia came within a whisker of a monumental feat in the semifinals of these Olympic Games, losing 95-91 to Team USA after leading by 17 points in the first half and still trailing by 15 with just seconds left in the third quarter.
The pill is therefore hard to swallow for the Serbian coach. Svetislav Pesicwho had already accused the referees of being unfair towards his leaders at the end of the match, and who took advantage of the statements of his German counterpart to add another layer.
After the defeat, Gordon Herbert had indeed congratulated Serbia, and said that the two teams could have met in the final rather than in the third place play-off.
“We could have beaten France, we had our chance (…). But this defeat has ruined our morale. We already saw ourselves in the final but the French team played better than us on Thursday”, he had also declared. “Congratulations to Serbia. Sorry for France, but they are the best team we have faced at the Olympics.”
Upon his arrival in Belgrade, returning from the Games with bronze in his pocket, Svetislav Pesic heard of his statements, allowing him to salute the German coach in turn, while once again deploring the outcome of the competition.
“I agree with him, because he is a man who always has his feet on the ground.”, he first declared. “Without going into details, I think that given everything that happened in the tournament, the final should have been between Germany and Serbia. They deserved to be in the final, I agree with him.”
At 74, Svetislav Pesic has shown himself open to the idea of continuing his mission at the head of the national team, while his contract ends at the end of these Olympic Games.
