Social media buzz adds intrigue to Syria vs Lebanon

BEIRUT (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers) - Social media in Syria and Lebanon are abuzz ahead of the neighbors' showdown in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers.

The basketball federations of both countries have come up with social media campaigns with hashtags to call out to their fans for support in the buildup to Syria's home game against Lebanon in Group C, which will be played at the Nouhad Nawfal Stadium in the Lebanese capital Beirut on February 23.

#StrongSyria and #SupportSyria are the two major hashtags for the Syrians, who have a 1-1 record after the first window of Qualifiers. 

Lebanon, who have a 1-1 record in the group, is urging its fans that #TogetherWeCanReachthemondial(World Cup) in Arabic while also calling out "One hand, one goal".

Lebanon will go into the game as the favorites but Syria hope their fans flock to Beirut to push them to a victory over the neighbors.

Lebanon and Syria faced off in the WABA Championship 2017 in Jordan just more than a year ago and the Syrians were leading 29-27 at halftime and were still up 39-38 with five minutes left in the third quarter. But Lebanon used an 11-3 surge to take control of the game and ended up winning 78-64.

The neighbors also played in the WABA Championships in 2015 and 2016 with Lebanon winning both times.

Syria lost 109-72 to Jordan in the first Qualifier in November but bounced back three days later with a strong 74-57 victory in India to take the inside track for a spot in the second round of the Qualifiers.

Tarek Aljabi and Michael Madanly combined to score 29.5 points in the November games while Ivan Todorovic and Abdulwahab Alhamwi combined to grab 17.5 rebounds and William Alhaddad and Madanly combined to average 8.5 assists for Veselin Matic's team.

Lebanon for their part eased past India 107-72 but then lost at Jordan 87-83 as they could not stop Darquavis Tucker, who had 32 points.

The Lebanese have five players who scored in double digits in the first two games and a sixth who hit double figures in his sole contest. Syria must try to stop Wael Arakji, who leads the way with 17.0 points, 7.0 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals. And Ahmad Ibrahim is collecting 14.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game for the Lebanese, who after the Syria game will head to Bengaluru to take on India on February 26.

But there will be no looking past Syria. And this showdown promises to be a fun battle.

FIBA