Basketball
147:6! But merciless boos for a US star
A must-win victory with a few side noises! The USA's basketball team gave Brazil no chance and, as expected, reached the semi-finals of the Olympic tournament in Paris. But some of the home fans still don't want to forget the "betrayal" of a star.
Basket for the USA. Loud cheers. Basket for the USA. Loud boos. In fact, it was the same people who showed such different reactions right next to the "Krone" court. The reason: Joel Embiid! Who could have played for the hosts at the Olympic tournament because of his French passport, even President Emmanuel Macron had tried to convince the superstar in a phone call. In vain in the end. This meant he was not far away from being seen as a traitor by some fans.
"Already experienced something completely different"
What had begun in the preliminary round matches in Lille continued in the Bercy Arena in front of over 15,000 fans in the quarter-finals. "I've experienced completely different things in my life," said the 30-year-old, brushing away questions about this.
Surprisingly, the unequal duel on the court was just as exciting as the reactions in the stands. Four minutes before the break, the South Americans were only 34:42 behind. Before the favorites stepped up a gear, Embiid fired up the atmosphere with cheering gestures towards the crowd after scoring to make it 54:36 and the game was 63:36 at half-time.
Swimmer stole the show
Afterwards, LeBron James received a Brazilian elbow on a rebound attempt - that's a black eye. Before it got really loud shortly before the end, the whole hall went wild when the camera caught France's swimming superstar Léon Marchand sitting in the middle of the fans.
After the 122:87 victory, to which the irritant Embiid contributed 14 points, the US team's record in the history of the Summer Games is now 147:6, having lost twice to the Soviet Union and once each to Puerto Rico, Lithuania, Argentina and France. Head coach Steve Kerr's squad is chasing its fifth consecutive US gold in Paris, the 17th overall since 1936.
Big revenge draws closer
Serbia await the US boys in the semi-finals, the other pairing is France against Germany. It all boils down to a rematch of the Americans' semi-final loss to the Germans in the 2023 World Cup triumph.
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