“Who Let The Germans Out?”
DBB team wants to continue to cause excitement after the sensation
06/21/2023, 1:16 p.m
Germany’s women’s basketball team has reached the quarterfinals of the European Championship for the second time. Now a special game awaits and probably the greatest challenge this tournament has to offer.
First match winner Marie Gülich raved about the German EM fairy tale on the big stage, then Lisa Thomaidis declared her love for her team – before the national coach was abruptly interrupted: dancing and singing, the German basketball players hijacked the international press conference after jumping into the quarterfinals and celebrated loudly the greatest success in 26 years.
“Who Let The Germans Out?” (“Who let the Germans out?”), the players sang to the tune of the Baha Men hit “Who Let The Dogs Out.” Gülich shook his head in disbelief and covered his face with his hands, and Thomaidis grinned broadly too.
“We just have an enthusiastic and exciting group here. They love to play together,” said the coach, sending a challenge for Thursday’s knockout game against four-time champions Spain (8.45 p.m./MagentaSport) immediately afterwards: “Now we’ve made a bit of history but we continue to see every opportunity that comes our way. We’ll be ready for Spain.”
Already a great success
There is hardly any doubt about that after the 79:69 (44:36) over Slovakia. The “great” (O-Ton Thomaidis) Gülich, the outstanding player on the field against the Slovaks with 26 points and nine rebounds, will meet many acquaintances in Ljubljana on Thursday. Four good friends from their club Valencia BC are playing for Spain.
“I don’t know what to expect. It will be interesting,” said Gülich before the duel with the champion of 1993, 2013, 2017 and 2019. “We are the underdogs. This role is okay for us,” said Thomaidis. In the wake of the men’s bronze medal last year, the women are now also flying high.
The success of the women of the German Basketball Federation (DBB), who, after bronze at the 1997 European Championships, are only in the quarter-finals of a major tournament for the second time, comes as a surprise. Star player Satou Sabally, who is currently playing her fourth WNBA season in the USA, is not there; the DBB team last took part in a European Championship in 2011.
And so the tournament in Slovenia can already be considered a great success, the performances give a lot of momentum for the home World Cup in 2026. “Our goal was the second round and now we are in the quarter-finals,” said Gülich. And it shouldn’t end there.