BELGRADE (Serbia) - Serbia are among the leading contenders to win FIBA EuroBasket 2025, but the challenge will be harder than ever this summer.
That is the opinion of Serbia's veteran head coach Svetislav Pesic after the announcement of the draw for this summer's flagship event which has them playing the Group Phase in the Latvian capital Riga.
"There are so many candidates to win a medal - it will be a huge challenge for us."
"Never before have there been so many candidates for medals at any previous EuroBasket. This is actually a mini-World Cup," said Pesic, whose team was drawn in Group A with hosts Latvia, partner nation Estonia as well as Czechia, Portugal and Türkiye.
"At the last World Cup, two European representatives - Germany and Serbia - played in the Final. And at the 2024 Olympic Games, out of the four best teams, three were from Europe – France, Serbia and Germany.
"In addition to those teams, we have at least six more candidates who can win a medal at this year's Championship. It will be a huge challenge for us."
Serbia's most recent EuroBasket podium came at the 2017 edition when they lost to Slovenia in the Final, having also been beaten by Spain in the 2009 title showdown.
They reached the Semi-Finals in 2015 but then were beaten by Lithuania and fell to France in the Third Place Game to leave empty-handed.
Pesic was at the helm of the Serbian team in 2022, when they were upset by Italy in the Round of 16, but guided his side to a perfect 6-0 record in the Qualifiers.
The entire knockout stage this summer will take place in Riga, which Pesic sees as an advantage for Serbia, having been drawn in Group A.
"It is good that we are in Riga so that we do not have to travel from one side of the continent to another. Later, we will go against the strongest group," he said.
"Our group also includes Latvia and Estonia, which will be supported by their home fans. Latvia is, of course, the favorite in our group. Türkiye has an outstanding national team, and they are among the candidates for medals. We will definitely qualify for the Round of 16."
For the top four finishers in Group A, waiting in the knockout stage will be a crossover with four teams from Group B, which is made up of world champions Germany as well as Lithuania, Finland, Montenegro, Great Britain and Sweden.
"It will be important where we are in the group and who we will face (in the knockout rounds), and that's how we should look at it. We shouldn't look at the draw only through the first five opponents but also who we will face afterwards," said Pesic, who has won the 1993 EuroBasket as head coach of Germany and 2001 with Yugoslavia.
The veteran playcaller said Serbia will be going into the tournament well prepared and not looking to secure a matchup against any specific team or to avoid any nation.
"We are known for predicting everything in advance, but I'm not like that. I only know one thing, and that is that we will make a good preparation plan and that we will not choose opponents that suit us," he said.
"We will go to the EuroBasket 100 percent prepared. Of course, the health of the players will come first, everything else does not depend only on us."
FIBA EuroBasket 2025 starts on August 27 with the Group Phase being played in Riga, Latvia; Katowice, Poland; Limassol, Cyprus; and Tampere, Finland. The champion will be crowned on September 14 in Riga.
FIBA