Five must-watch players in Belgrade - Group A

BELGRADE (Serbia) - The reigning Olympic champions USA and event hosts Serbia will be most under the spotlight in Belgrade, but will Nigeria and Mozambique fly the flag for Africa and cause a sensation?

There will be an array of stellar names stepping out in the Serbian capital and here are five who could make a significant impact at the tournament.

Breanna Stewart – USA

Yes, 'welcome back Stewie' - words which basketball fans around the world have been waiting to hear for a long time. Having finally recovered from the Achilles injury she sustained during April 2019, one of the most iconic, if not the most iconic, figure of the women's global game right now is going to be exciting us all at her first major tournament since being sidelined. Leading up to that horror night in Sopron last year with Dynamo Kursk at the EuroLeague Women Final Four, everything that she touched had turned to gold. From a WNBA title, to MVP awards for club and country with Seattle Storm and the USA, with Stewart being a shining light at the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2018. All the camera lenses will be trained on her again and seeing her extraordinary talent back on the court will be a joy – even if she is likely to be still easing her way back to full game fitness and sharpness. Interestingly, during her recovery, Stewart landed in Belgrade unannounced after making a quick-fire decision to fly from the States to check out the FIBA Women's EuroBasket Final Round in the city. This time, she will be the one doing the entertaining and wowing the fans.

Sonja Vasic–Serbia

The home nation will be relying on Vasic as usual to inspire the team to success. You can count on her too. The track record is amazing and it's easy to forget that she spent a lot of her career on a sabbatical from the national team stage. Since she arrived back in the line-up during 2015, she has been the driving force behind major chunks of history in Serbia winning their maiden title at the FIBA Women's EuroBasket (2015) and then following it up with bronze on home soil last year. She was also the centerpiece of Serbia's first-ever appearance at the Olympics and a famous spot on the third step of the podium in Rio. Vasic, formerly known as Petrovic before she got married last year, will do it all. The Spar Citylift Girona forward will use her versatility, scoring power, experience and leadership to get it done. If it needs icing during crunch time, then Petrovic will step up and show how much of a clutch player she is.

Ezinne Kalu – Nigeria

The guard has really come of age during the last couple of years and has risen to prominence at the same time as Nigeria themselves have finally got things together in general. That combination has delivered FIBA Women's Afrobasket titles and a positive showing at the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2018. Last year, Kalu hit a new peak when she deservedly walked away with the MVP accolade having led Nigeria to gold in Dakar. Her 13 points, 3.2 assists, 3.0 steals and 2.6 boards per game underlined how fundamentally important she is to this Nigeria team. A similarly productive effort followed in the FIBA Women's Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament and the question is whether Kalu can maintain that momentum and form. The signs are good after an impressive run in the French league with Landerneau Bretagne Basket, which seems to have further sharpened her game in all areas.

Leia Dongue – Mozambique

A colossus for her country, Dongue is the engine of this Mozambique team and if she is rolling, they could be a dangerous unit. The adulation she received from the Senegal fans in Dakar last year when she made the All-Star Five at the FIBA Women's AfroBasket epitomized how her game transcends Mozambique and how she is such a hugely popular African player. Powerful and so efficient, her biggest problem will probably be that she is way out in front on the scouting report of her opponents and will have to accept a welcoming committee from the defense. Yet she somehow still usually manages to find a way to get buckets and so much so that in the highly rated Spanish league this season, she has rather incredibly, only once failed to achieve a double-digit scoring return with Campus Promete since September. She will lead the way in more than just scoring as she has the capacity to showcase her quick hands and other attributes. Carrying a lot of responsibility on her shoulders, you could go so far as to say that she is the sole key to Mozambique unlocking a fairytale ticket to Tokyo.

Sue Bird – USA

A legend. Bird is one of the most famous names to have ever graced a USA vest and rightly considered as one of the greats of the modern era. Expected to finally call time on her illustrious career in Tokyo, the fact that the guard will become a five-time Olympian in the Japanese capital says it all. Her last global outing came in Tenerife at the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup, where her cameo performances were important in USA taking gold. The same outcome will be favored in Tokyo. And when the action gets underway in Belgrade, it will be the veteran know-how of Bird that stands out. Not only on the court, but also of the floor too, where players continue to look up to her. With her backcourt partner Diana Taurasi skipping this one, the role of Bird will be amplified even more.

FIBA