Another chapter of the storied rivalry between two powerhouse squads will be written today as Spain and France collide in the semifinals of the FIBA EuroBasket Men 2013 tournament in Slovenia.
Spain and France, which met in the finals of the 2011 edition of the EuroBasket, form one of the modern European classic rivalries. While they will not be battling for the gold medal, the two proud countries are expected to go toe-to-toe against each other.
The defending European champions struggled in the preliminary round of the tournament, but their real strength was in full display in their 90-60 win over Serbia in the quarterfinals - a win that put them closer to grabbing three straight European titles.
France, on the other hand, also had had their share of struggles in the preliminary round, but they managed to sneak into the top four via an impressive 72-62 victory over host Slovenia on Wednesday.
Spain will hope for another big game from star center Marc Gasol, who averaged 13.0 points and 7.7 rebounds in the preliminary round.
On the other hand, NBA superstar point guard Tony Parker will spearhead the semifinals campaign of France and veteran Spanish guard Sergio Rodriguez knows how the competition will be tough with Parker playing at his best in the tournament.
"It's difficult, very difficult to stop Parker, what we can try to do is to be very careful with him without forgetting about the rest of the great players they have. We have a lot of players we can rotate on him but it's still difficult, we have to be concentrated 100% on everyone," Rodriguez said in a FIBA interview.
Based from the previous results of their game, Spain will head into the match as the favorites, but France will look to defy the odds and finally score a big win against their rival.
"Spain are the favorites and I am not just saying that to take pressure off our backs, it's a fact. Quite simply, they are the reigning European champions and we have lost to them every time in the last years," France forward Nicolas Batum admitted.
Live Streaming Schedule and Box Score
The highly-anticipated match between Spain and France will tip off at 3 p.m. EST. Live streaming will be available on Watch ESPN, while LiveBasketball TV will also provide streaming links.
The blow-by-blow account of the match and the box score will be available on the official FIBA EuroBasket Men 2013 website.
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