German basketball players clearly lose their home World Cup opening game against Spain

The German basketball players clearly lost their first game at the home World Cup in Berlin. National coach Olaf Lange's team clearly lost to co-favorites Spain 53:83 (24:50) and therefore no longer has a realistic chance of winning the group. Only the top teams in the preliminary round advance directly to the quarter-finals.

In front of 12,500 spectators in the Arena Berlin, including Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the selection of the German Basketball Federation (DBB) had little to counter the European runner-up. With 13 points, Leonie Fiebich was the best scorer for the German team, which had to do without the injured star player Satou Sabally. The 28-year-old missed the tournament in her hometown due to the after-effects of a concussion.

German defense was particularly weak

The German team acted nervously from the start. The experienced Spaniards took advantage of this mercilessly and pulled away in the first quarter. The German team was not competitive, especially in defense. After ten minutes, Spain was ahead by eleven points. Up to this point, only Fiebich (8) and Alexis Peterson (3) had scored for Germany.

Until the break, not even one in four of Germany's throws from the field was successful. The Spaniards, on the other hand, hit a good 60 percent of their shots. At halftime, the German basketball players were already hopelessly behind by 26 points. In the second half it was basically just a matter of damage limitation for the Germans.

In addition to the great nervousness, the bumpy preparation was also clearly noticeable. The team barely had time to get used to it as a whole because the players from the US WNBA joined the team late. Fiebich was the last to join the team last weekend.

On Saturday the German team has the chance to make amends. Then it's against Japan in the smaller Max Schmeling Hall (6 p.m.). The last group opponent is Mali on Monday.