Navisa Collier scored 19 points and led the American team to defeat Hungary 108-56 and qualify for the semi-finals of the Women's Basketball World Cup in Germany, today, Thursday.
On Saturday, the American team will meet the winner of the match between Spain and Australia, and in the other two matches in the quarter-finals, France will meet China, while Belgium will face the host German team.
The American team achieved its 34th consecutive victory in the tournament, since its loss to Russia in the semi-finals of the 2006 edition, and also qualified for the semi-finals in all editions since 1983.
The American team took control early against Hungary, and ended the first quarter with a 36-12 lead, then ended the first half with a 59-30 lead, which is the highest average points scored by the team in the first half in the history of its participation in the World Championship, according to the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).
The situation was not much different in the second half of the match, as the American team dominated it on its way to winning the match by 52 points.
Despite the loss, Hungary achieved its best participation in the history of the World Cup, after reaching the quarter-finals for the first time.
Hungary had ranked fifth in the 1957 edition, but the tournament was held at that time in a single-round league system without medal rounds.
Rodri, the newcomer to the Barcelona team, confirmed that he apologized to the Valencia players, after television cameras captured words attributed to him in which he described the team as “very weak” during the two teams’ match in the Spanish League, which ended with Barcelona winning by 5 goals without a response last Sunday.
Rodri appeared talking to his teammates Pau Cobarsi and Rafinha from the bench, while the Movistar network claimed to have read the movement of his lips as he said: “They are very weak.” They did not cross the halfway line of the field.”
The comments attributed to Rodri sparked criticism from Spanish fans and media, especially since Valencia is in last place in the Spanish League standings without any wins in its first 4 matches.
Rodri said after Barcelona's 5-1 victory over Dutch Feyenoord at the start of his new team's Champions League campaign on Wednesday evening: “I apologized to my friend Jose Gaya and to the entire Valencia as well. “I want to make it clear that it was just an expression of astonishment, and anyone watching the video can see that.” He added: “At no point did I mean to mock anyone or take advantage of a difficult situation a team was going through and take it out of context. On the contrary, we all want Valencia to return to the position it deserves in the league, as it is one of the best clubs in the competition. This is simply what I wanted to say. Rodri continued: “I would also like to stress that it was a private conversation, and I think we should all learn more from that; Because things are sometimes taken out of context. But I meant no disrespect. “I apologize to Valencia.”
The owners of the Italian club Inter Milan are looking into the possibility of acquiring a second European club to help develop the Italian team's young talents and increase its market value, according to Italian press reports.
La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper reported that the American fund Oaktree, which owns Inter Milan, is currently studying the acquisition of clubs in Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland, without specifying a specific club yet.
Oaktree prefers to acquire a club active in the first division in one of these countries, allowing young Inter players the opportunity to obtain more playing minutes and experience, while remaining within the same ownership structure.
This trend comes within the framework of Oaktree's search to expand its presence in football, through a multi-club ownership model, similar to major investment groups, such as: City Football Group, which owns Manchester City, Red Bull and the owners of Chelsea.
The recent acquisition of the Portuguese club Casa Pia by the Krause Group, which owns Parma, is one of the models that Oaktree might emulate, especially since the club is located in Lisbon and competes in the Portuguese Premier League.
Reports indicate that Oaktree hopes to find the right opportunity and complete the acquisition during the current season, which may allow the new club to begin work as of the summer transfer period of 2027.
