THE South Sudan made Team USA tremble on Saturday, just missing the winning basket. The South Sudanese team thus lost by a small point (101-100), the fault of a LeBron James in savior mode and perhaps an uncalled foul by Anthony Edwards on the final offensive rebound by Wenyen Gabriel.
Before participating in their first Olympic competition, this match against the USA was an opportunity to test themselves against the greatest basketball nation, but also an opportunity to represent the youngest nation in the world.
“I am happy that we were able to represent our country. Many people in the world did not know about South Sudan, but today we were able to represent our country with pride, fight a good fight and show them the potential of our country,” Wenyen Gabriel believes. “It was a proud moment for a lot of people. Obviously we wanted to win, we played really well and I'm really proud of my teammates, the heart we showed, the dedication and trying to make our name respected and make our country respected.”
“A group of refugees”
The country, which has been independent since 2011, has only been on the FIBA circuit since 2013, but Luol Deng, at the head of the Federation, has assembled a team that goes beyond basketball.
“We don't have indoor basketball courts in our country. We are a group of refugees who get together a few weeks a year, doing our best and playing against some of the best players of all time,” adds Wenyen Gabriel. “For us, it’s bigger than basketball. We want to show people that we can compete and make people understand that basketball in Africa has a future. It’s just a matter of time before the next generation is formed.”
A refugee himself, the former Lakers player has joined the United States to escape the civil war when he was only three years oldThis is the story of this team, which is also awaiting FIBA's decision on the exemption of Thon Maker, who has already played with the Australian jersey.
“There are a billion people in this country who are no different than us. We’ve been able to show up and get to this level, because of all these opportunities. Having access to facilities, I grew up in the United States but a lot of us grew up in Australia, some of us grew up in Canada,” continues Wenyen Gabriel.
A symbol of unity
Shining at the team's first Olympics would be perfect, to show pride in representing the country that many were not able to grow up in and to allow the population to come together.
“Many people don’t have the opportunity to play basketball for a living, to shoot hoops, they have to go fishing for food, or do different things to survive. Today was an example and something that brings us together. We have been a country torn apart by war, that has seen a lot of bloodshed every year. It’s time to share something together, to stop looking at each other differently. It’s a small country, 11 million people, but today we were able to be united. We hope that we can continue to do different things in the future, to be united, to continue to build our country, so that we can all be proud to say that we are from South Sudan,” concludes Wenyen Gabriel.
