Portugal are through to the Knockout phase of the 2025 EuroBasket.
By Semih Tuna/ [email protected]
Riga, Latvia - Portugal defeated Estonia in a crucial Group A game of the 2025 EuroBasket, and for the first time in history made it to the Knockout Phase.
After the game, coach Mario Gomes shared his thoughts:
"It was my first thought after the end of the game -- we are living this moment. I want to dedicate this achievement to the players who helped us a lot during qualification but couldn't be here: Andre Cruz, Ricardo Monteiro, Antoni da Silva, and Gonsalo Delgado. I hope they see and hear this," Coach Gomes said.
He gave credit to his players:
"Before the game, I was talking with my coaches, and we said to each other: this is the game for the players, the moment for the players. We won the game, and the total merit goes to them -- they were responsible for this win. They showed something most important: character. Each one of them, and as a team."
Portugal lost their best player, Neemias Queta, midway through the third period, as the Boston Celtics center was ejected after referees thought his celebration went too far and awarded him a second technical foul.
"Regarding that situation, I'm not going to say much out of respect for the game, the players, and all the coaches. I'll just say that it's very easy to make a call like that against a Portuguese player. We didn't know what would happen with 15 minutes to play. I'm a coach, not a magician or a guru, but I knew that the team would react and not throw in the towel," Mario Gomes concluded.
Captain of Portugal, Miguel Queiroz, was proud of his team for reaching this historic milestone:
"It's important in life to know what you want. We came to EuroBasket knowing the group we were in -- with probably the top teams to win EuroBasket -- and we knew that to advance, we had to win the first and last game. Even Czechia and Estonia are great teams, but we knew we had to win those games."
The players never stopped believing:
"In the other games, we needed to fight and compete. Against Serbia, we were in the game; tough losses against Turkey and Latvia, but the team never doubted. Even when others doubted after two losses in a row... If you lose against Turkey and Sengun, or against the best players in the world, we kept fighting," Queiroz concluded.