If Bertans' last shot had maintained his normal three-point level, Latvia would have reached the semi-finals, but unfortunately luck did not stand on their side, witnessing Germany's thrilling advance and tasting the cruelty of both tragedy and joy.
Bettan, who missed the kill, fell into a deep self-blame, and his teammates sent comfort and moistened their eyes at the same time, only 2 points away from the final four, maybe they can't be willing for a long time!
But the fans on the sidelines still regarded the Latvian players as heroes, singing battle songs without sparing their encouragement and praise, and in fact these fans stayed in the stands from the first game, and the long journey of 9,055 kilometers from Riga to Manila never wavered in their hearts of unwavering support.
But if you know Latvia's story, it's not hard to understand why their fans are so crazy, since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Latvian men's basketball has not been able to beat Europe for the first time, even though they have finished fifth in Europe, but they have made their debut on the stage of the basketball World Cup this year.
They have won 11 consecutive European qualifiers, but few in the same group as France and Canada are optimistic that Latvia can qualify, especially on the eve of the big game, star Porzingis withdrew due to a plantar injury.
Although the first match was lightly defeated by Lebanon, the captain and core of the team Bertans (the brother of the one at the beginning of the article) also bid farewell to the World Cup due to injury, and everything seemed to be cursed on the head of this small country.
But this civilian team seems to have no shortcomings, one falls, the other stands up, once talented guard Zagars against France 11 of 8, cut 22 points, against Brazil again 17 points, in the NBA marginalized Bertans against defending champion Spain 16 points, can be described as a thousand arrows in unison, defense.
Yesterday's eight-in-four life and death battle, Latvia was already 14 points behind in the last half of the quarter, just when everyone thought that the German tank would easily advance to the final four, Latvia began to frantically fight back and rain three points, until they fought to the last second 2 points to drink hatred and lose to the favorites.
A new army that almost reached the Final Four, and if that sounds impressive enough, let's take to know Latvia, Latvia, which is smaller in size than the mainland city of Chongqing, and whose male-to-female population is severely disproportioned, with less than a million men and 230,000 fewer than women.
Although the average height of Latvian women has reached 1.70 meters, tall and beautiful, but in their own country is "slow-selling", in order to solve this problem, Latvia does not hesitate to open up the policy, all married Latvian women can become Latvian nationality, and enjoy the same benefits.
So such a "yin and yang" country. Why is the men's basketball team so strong? A little bit can be seen from the coach's live soundtrack against Spain, "Gomez picked you to play, right? Try to fight him! If you don't do it, you foul! Call me smart! Play smart, simple basketball! ”
In the Latvian men's basketball team, I saw a spirit that is: fight for life! They may be far less valuable than their opponents, but every tough individual is gathered together, and even if the opponent is tall, they will shudder.
Two years ago, Latvia miraculously won the gold medal in the 3x3 men's basketball team at the Tokyo Olympics, and Crummings in the final decided to stick with an injury despite a fracture, even if it ruined his career, he had to fight for the most glorious moment of his life.
Before the start of this World Cup, FIBA ranked Latvia 29th out of 32 teams, but these warriors beat their faces crazy with practical actions and wrote their own legendary chapter in basketball history. When others look down on you or even want to bury you, you need to always remember that you are a seed, and being strong is the first step to becoming stronger