It was against all odds, but in the end Germany won.
The Lynxes made history. The week that is now ending will forever be framed in the golden albums of basketball and national sports. With a spectacular victory over Estonia, without the excluded Neemias Queta and with Rafael Lisboa excelling in outside shooting ( 65-68 ), Portugal qualified for the knockout stage of a European Basketball Championship for the first time in history and immediately secured the second-best performance in its history. The mission in Latvia was accomplished, and to do better, the National Team had to overcome a tough obstacle: defeating world champions Germany in the round of 16.
"In these types of games, there's not much to say. It's a game where, if we won, we'd achieved our goal. If we lost, we'd go home tomorrow. I'm feeling great here in Riga. My first thought after the match was that we're living this moment because of teamwork. I want to dedicate this achievement to four players who helped us qualify: André Cruz, Ricardo Monteiro, Anthony da Silva, and Gonçalo Delgado. I told Nuno [Manarte] and Sérgio [Ramos] that this game was for the players. We won thanks entirely to their merit and because they showed the most important thing: character. It was thanks to the team's character. I started coaching 50 years ago, in 1975, and the feeling is always the same. These moments are the film of our lives. This profession has very difficult moments, but fortunately there are also moments like that. Returning to the metaphor of the melons, today we cut one open, and it was sweet," began coach Mário Gomes at the end of the match against Estonia.
"Nehemiah? I won't say much, out of respect for the game, for all the players, and for the coaches. I'll just say that it's very easy to give a foul on a Portuguese player. Regarding the team's reaction, we didn't know what was going to happen, with about 15 minutes remaining. I'm a coach; I'm not a wizard, a magician, a guru, or anything like that. But I did know one thing: I knew the team would react, would unite, and wouldn't throw in the towel. Whether it would be enough or not would be seen soon. Fortunately, it was enough. We'll prepare for the next game as we've all been preparing, with the same pressure we've had since we arrived here. It's been that way so far, and even more so, it will be the same in the next game. So, nothing special. We need to rest our bodies and especially our minds. We'll work with the same honesty and seriousness that got us this far," he concluded.
Ahead, perhaps the main candidate for the title. But our ???????????????? is ?????????????????????????!????????
Until the end, competing, without ever giving up, ???????????????????????? ????????????????, ???????????? ???????????????????? ✊????
???? ???????????????????????? @EuroBasket ???? Riga Arena, Latvia ???? September 6⌚️ 1:15 PM???? RTP2
????… pic.twitter.com/Ldf9ImnMP0
— Basketball Portugal (@fpbasquetebol) September 6, 2025
Portugal started with Rafael Lisboa, Travante Williams, Diogo Brito, Miguel Queiroz, and Neemias Queta in the starting lineup, while Germany opted for Isaac Bonga, Franz Wagner, Daniel Theis, Dennis Schroder, and Andreas Obst. After observing a minute's silence in memory of the victims of the Glória elevator tragedy, the Lynx started off strong, leading 7-2 after the first two minutes, thanks to a great tackle by Queta. However, the Portuguese attack began to falter, and the Germans took advantage to tie the game (7-7), completing the comeback with a basket by Schroder (9-7). Portugal continued to close the gap until the end of the first quarter, but their lead grew to five points (17-12).
The Lynxes came out strong again in the second quarter, reducing the deficit to three points after a basket by Brito (17-14). Three-pointers began to shine for the national team, who, through Francisco Amarante and Cândido Sá, regained the lead (21-22). After Bonga missed two free throws, Relvão extended the lead, and Travante put Portugal up five points at halftime (21-26). In the final seconds of the first half, Travante added another three-pointer and Neemias scored another alley-oop , but Schroder pulled one back for the Germans, who, despite this, returned to the locker room trailing a impeccable Portuguese defense (31-32).
????????????????????????????????????: ???????? 32-31 ????????
????????????́ ????????? ????????????! ✨ #SomosBasquetebol #GigantesDePortugal #OsLinces #EuroBasket #MakeYourMark pic.twitter.com/lK5eLVvOVH
— Basketball Portugal (@fpbasquetebol) September 6, 2025
After the restart, Neemias Queta extended Portugal's lead to three points, but Bonga brought the Germans back into the lead (33-34). However, a Portuguese attacking error put Germany back in front, and a lapse by Neemias and Rafael Lisboa widened the deficit (37-34). The Lynx reacted, closing the gap, and shortly after, took the lead again from the free throw line (39-40). Even so, a three-pointer by Schroder restored the advantage to the Germans, who followed suit with another three-pointer by Maodo Lo (47-43). With three minutes remaining in the quarter, Mário Gomes stopped the game, and the reaction was almost immediate, with Brito bringing the Lynx back closer with a three-pointer (52-49). Relvão recovered the ball on defense, but Amarante missed the equalizer. After another German offensive error, Diogo Gameiro kept Portugal in contention for the final ten minutes (52-51).
However, the start of the fourth quarter proved decisive in the outcome of the match, with Germany taking advantage of the space to build a 12-point lead after just three minutes. During that period, the Lynx didn't score a single point (63-51), and only managed to do so midway through the quarter, with a three-pointer from Travante (65-54). With everything going wrong on offense and three-pointers pouring into the opponent's basket, Portugal definitively said goodbye to the match and the European Championship with four minutes remaining (74-54). The Lynx continued to struggle until the end and ended up bidding farewell to Latvia with a significant result, after a high-quality match in which they posed difficulties for the world champions until the final ten minutes (85-58). Neemias was the MVP, with another double-double (18 points and 11 rebounds), his only one in this round of 16 match.
The story of this game is not in the result. ???????????? ????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???? ????????????????????????̃ ???????? ???????????????????????! ????????????
Tremendous pride in the ?????????????????????????́???????????? of our Lynxes ???? #SomosBasquetebol #GigantesDePortugal #OsLinces #EuroBasket #MakeYourMark pic.twitter.com/ZfAaxj92Vd
— Basketball Portugal (@fpbasquetebol) September 6, 2025
observador
