BERLIN – Germany pulled off the biggest upset of its basketball existence, and hardly anyone back home seemed to notice.
The Germans held on to beat the United States 113-111 in the Basketball World Cup semifinals on Friday in Manila and reach the final for the first time, setting up a game against Serbia on Sunday for the title.
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But unlike the horn-honking and beer-drinking celebrations that normally accompany German wins in World Cup soccer, the streets of Berlin remained free of fanfare on Friday.
The victory was the German national basketball team’s biggest success since winning the 1993 European title and arguably its most spectacular win ever as the team captained by Dennis Schröder defeated the tournament favorites for its first win over the United States.
Perhaps the lack of local atmosphere had to do with the game not being shown on regular TV. In order to watch the game, Germans had to use a streaming service.
Sunday's game, however, will be shown on one of the national TV networks.
Although there has been little buildup or coverage for the tournament so far, that is expected to change now.
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