MADRID, 3 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The national coach, Miguel Méndez, has announced this Wednesday the shortlist of 17 players from the team for the Eurobasket 2023, which will take place between June 15 and 25 in Israel and Slovenia, where the main absence will be that of the center Astou Ndour, who due to a “personal situation” will not be able to play the competition.
“The 12 that will represent us in the Eurobasket will come out of this group. We want to make the best possible team to achieve the objectives that we set ourselves and we want you to feel like yours,” Méndez said in statements offered by the FEB after announcing the list .
The Galician coach warns that “these players have all the talent, commitment and human quality necessary to represent Spanish women’s basketball this summer”. “I am sure that they will lead us to qualify for the 2024 Pre-Olympic and fight for the top positions in the classification, the place that Spanish women’s basketball deserves,” he stressed.
The list, led by the captain, Silvia Domínguez, who has accumulated more than two hundred caps as an international, and by another veteran such as Alba Torrens, while other names stand out such as the young Raquel Carrera, Maite Cazorla or María Conde, who has just played for the ‘Final Four’ of the Euroleague with USK Prague. The bulk of the list is made up of players from Valencia Basket, with five representatives, and Perfumerías Avenida, with four.
Instead, on the other hand, the main novelties are the young Lola Penande, Nerea Hermosa and Helena Pueyo, all three playing in the NCAA (United States University League) and who represent the future of the team. Only Penande knows what it is to play with the national team, with which she has four caps.
However, the most notable absence is that of center Astou Ndour, a player who “has been key and a fundamental part of this team,” as Méndez acknowledged. “Due to a personal situation, she will not be with the National Team this summer. We hope to have her with us again when she is available again,” she explained.
In addition to Ndour, two other key pieces such as María Araújo and Irati Etxarri, for whom he had a word of support, are also absent, in this case due to injury. “I want to tell them that we will miss them and that we are waiting for them when they can be part of this team,” stressed the coach.
To prepare for the European Championship, the team will face six rivals during their preparation tour. From May 24 to 26, they will participate in a triangular game with Italy and China, the current runner-up in the world. On June 2 and 4 they will play in Córdoba against Turkey and Belgium, third in the last Eurobasket; and on 9 and 10 he will travel to Hungary to face the local team with which he was already framed in the qualifying phase.
–PRE-LIST OF THE WOMEN’S TEAM FOR EUROBASKET 2023.
1. Silvia Domínguez (Avenida Perfumeries).
2. Maite Cazorla (Perfumerías Avenida).
3. Cristina Ouviña (Valencia Basket).
4. Leticia Romero (Valencia Basket).
5. Leonor Rodríguez (Avenida Perfumeries).
6. Queralt Casas (Valencia Basket).
7. Helena Pueyo (Arizona NCAA).
8. Laura Quevedo (Asvel Lyon).
9. María Conde (USK Prague).
10. Alba Torrens (Valencia Basket).
11. Andrea Vilaró (Perfumerías Avenida).
12. Paula Ginzo (Durán Maquinaria Teaching).
13. María Eraunzetamurgil (Movistar Estudiantes).
14. Laura Gil (Basket Landes).
15. Raquel Carrera (Valencia Basket).
16. Lola Pendande (Miami NCAA).
17. Nerea Hermosa (Georgia Tech NCAA).