Under 22 Euro Championship Final: Belarus 96:91 Italy (1994)

Winning the Gold - July 10, 1994

Looking back at the European Championship Final game few things come to mind:

• The Final game is taking place in Slovenian Capital Ljubljana, at the old Tivoli Arena
• The atmosphere around the final game was unusual - it was very nice and quiet... only few local fans showed up because of disappointing performance of the Slovenia National Team
• Belarus blue uniforms did not even have the country's name written on them, no sponsors, no logos - just a player's number
• Thank God we are playing in real Nike sneakers (one of the first pairs we ever had)
• The best part was the medal ceremony - seeing Belarus banner being raised to the music of the Belarus Anthem - priceless!

More about European U22 Championship in this blog: February 2011 posts

Gold Medal from Euro 1994

The Team that made history

Part III - Winning the Gold!

As the FIBA U22 Championship reached its final stage, all of the teams moved from Maribor and Postojna towards Slovenian capital Ljubljana. Everyone understood the importance of the last two games - though some teams were playing for their pride and 5-8th places, the pressure was especially true for the teams who were in the top four. Italy - Greece was a first semi final to be played, and Belarus was facing the #1 team from group B - Spain in the later game.

Psychologically, no matter how hard players try not to think about the importance of the crucial games, it is usually a tough task to manage as all of their thoughts are related to the game in one way or another. The signs are everywhere: players are carefully choosing what to eat for breakfast and, all of a sudden, teammates stop to joke as much, and one can hear the annoying sound of silverware hitting the plates' ceramic during a team lunch. There is also silence in a video room while the team is watching scouting video and the intensity is mixed in the air with occasional remarks from coaches... Everyone realizes that an opportunity to win European Championship might never present itself again.