South Sudan’s Kiir hails basketball team performance against US
July 21, 2024 (JUBA)- South Sudan President Salva Kiir has praised the national basketball team that narrowly lost to the United States in a friendly on Sunday.
The U.S defeated the Bright Stars of South Sudan by 101-100 in a tense game.
“It is with honour and a profound sense of national pride that I congratulate the leadership of the South Sudan Basketball Federation under Luol Deng and all the players of the South Sudan men’s basketball team, our bright stars, for impressive performance and commendable strides you have made in the development of basketball in our young nation”, Kiir said in a statement.
Kiir said basketball has made history since the creation of South Sudan in 2011.
South Sudan qualified for 2024 Paris Olympic Games as the highest placed African team.
“Your impressive performance has inspired many open-minded people across the globe to get to know that South Sudan is a country with more to offer the world. You shall another historical mark on July 28 when you represent South Sudan at the men’s Olympic basketball tournament in Paris 2024”, stressed Kiir.
South Sudan’s minister of youth and sports, Joseph Geng Akech, commended Kiir and the council of ministers for the support given, despite economic challenges.
He explained that South Sudan would participate in basketball, taekwondo, and athletic, hailing the performance of the team against Great Britain and Portugal.
The Bright Star are scheduled to play against Porto Rico on July 31, 2024, and the US on August 3rd, 2024. It will take Serbia at their final as part of the Group C fixer.
Some of the players expressed happiness for making the country known and putting it on the global stage, saying many people had not known a country called South Sudan before playing with teams from other countries.
“A lot of people around the world don’t know what South Sudan was. Today, we were able to represent our country with pride, put up a good fight, and show them the potential of our country. this is much bigger than basketball for us,” said Wenyen Gabriel, one of the players from South Sudan.
Steve Kerr, the US basketball team coach praised the South Sudanese team after surviving a defeat, while admitting that he had underestimated the young nation.
“First of all, I did not do a great job. I think we did not focus enough on what they are capable of and that is one of me. And I think that really allowed South Sudan to gain confidence early and once we turned it up in the second, they had already knocked down a bunch of three and were feeling good about themselves”, he said.
The US coach described Bright Stars of South Sudan as amazing during the game, commending his counterpart, Royal Ivey, and his staff for developing the team.
“They were great. They played a wonderful game and the ending was good for us. To feel what it is going to be like in Paris and Lille. So good experience for us, a good reminder that when we play against a team who know it is the biggest games of their lives, we have to expect everyone to play like that”, he stressed.
The head coach of the South Sudan team commended the performance of the players, saying the players had shown resilience and competitiveness.
The Bright Stars rose to the top in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 qualifiers, becoming the continent’s only representative in the Paris Olympic games.
(ST)