Ahead of the decisive match between Serbia and South Sudan, fans from both countries mingle outside the Pierre-Mauroy stadium, in impromptu dance sessions mixing music from both countries.
On the pitch, it's not necessarily the same atmosphere as Wenyen Gabriel sets the tone with a 3-pointer at the start of the game. Nikola Jokic serves Filip Petrusev with a wonderful pass behind the back and we feel that Serbia is very wary of this South Sudan team. It must be said that they punish the slightest slackening.
Svetislav Pesic's players are making great efforts to “switch” and not leave any outside shots open to their opponents, but the slightest offensive rebound or oversight allows South Sudan to draw.
South Sudan hangs on
After a quarter, Serbia leads by only one point (22-21) and, at half-time, there is only one possession difference (47-44). This is because the South Sudanese defense is extremely aggressive, causing Serbian ball losses quite a few times, and its regular bombardment from afar (7/17) requires constant and applied pressure.
The downside is that the South Sudanese make a lot of mistakes, with several players (Bul Kuol, Majok Deng) being forced to join the bench quite quickly.
Led by Nikola Jokic (14 points, 8 rebounds) and Bogdan Bogdanovic (12 points, 4 assists), the Serbs were in the lead at half-time, but nothing was decided against this South Sudanese team who would sell their skin dearly.
What a fight
With Vasilije Micic in the starting five to start the second half, Serbia tried to insist inside and began to create a gap. But as since the beginning of the match, South Sudan managed to catch up, forcing Svetislav Pesic to call a time-out. The opportunity for Bogdan Bogdanovic to strike twice from afar (65-58) to give his country some breathing room… and for South Sudan to continue its great yo-yo act.
After three quarters, Serbia leads by only five points (72-67) after a buzzer-beating basket by Carlik Jones.
And South Sudan continues to stick together, notably with an alley-oop from Wenyen Gabriel (72-71). It is again Bogdan Bogdanovic who relieves Serbia. The Sudanese baskets are becoming increasingly rare and Nikola Jokic's teammates can this time make a definitive gap. But they will have had to fight for more than 35 minutes!
So, well done to South Sudan, which is leaving the Olympic Games (96-85) but can be proud of its performance, after beating Puerto Rico and playing eye to eye with the United States and Serbia.
For Bogdan Bogdanovic and his teammates, it's now time for the quarter-finals, with a duel against Australia. For the Blues, the opponent will therefore be Canada…
