Brazilian women’s basketball team outside the Paris Games

For the second consecutive Olympic cycle, the women’s basketball team disappointed the fans and was left without a place in the Paris Games. Brazil lost to Germany 73-71 this Sunday (11), at the Mangueirinho gymnasium, in Belém (PA), in the last round of the pre-Olympics.

The green and yellow team needed to beat the European team with an advantage of at least eight points. Germany, however, dictated the pace of the game and was ahead on the scoreboard from the first moments.

In the second period, Germany opened a ten-point lead. Brazil maintained hope thanks to the talent of Tainá and Damiris, who managed to mitigate the loss to three points. The team then went to halftime with a partial defeat of 35 to 39.

Coach José Neto’s Brazil continued its hunt for the Germans after the break and, in the last period, managed to take the lead. The reaction in the final minutes gave hope to the fans, who were thrilled with the Brazilians, but the team made a series of fouls that favored the opposing team.

Before this stumble, the team had already been left out of the Tokyo Games, something that had not happened for 32 years. The last time Brazil was at the Olympics was in 2016, in Rio de Janeiro. World champion in 1994, the Brazilian team won a silver medal in Atlanta-1996 and bronze in Sydney-2000.

In Paris, the Olympic basketball championship will have 12 teams, two of which have already been defined. The United States, holder of the world title in the sport, and France, as the host of the Games, are classified in advance.

Brazil’s pre-Olympic bracket included Australia and Serbia, in addition to Germany. As in Belém, Hungary, Belgium and China also hosted the women’s basketball qualifier.
According to the regulations, in each group, the four teams play each other in a single round, and the best three in each venue will win the Olympic place.