At a temperature of below zero and a bone-chilling cold, the Israeli team is making the final preparations for tonight's important game (Sunday, 19:00) against Estonia in the 2023 World Cup qualifiers.
The team arrived in Estonia as early as Friday afternoon and managed to hold two long training sessions that were defined as good.
In general, the mood is good after the victory over Poland, and the professional team believes that the pressure has been released and now the players will play better basketball.
At the small airport in Tallinn, the players of the team met with Roman Sorkin and John Dibertolomeo, two Maccabi Tel Aviv players who came directly from Germany, where they played on Thursday against Alba Berlin.
"It's a little weird," Sorkin said, "but great fun to be with all the friends. We followed from Germany what's going on in the game. We were a little scared at first, but we were glad it ended well."
Guy Goodes and the professional team of the Israeli team, Photo: Alan Shiber
Coach Guy Goodes commented on the situation: "Their integration is smooth. They were on the team and know the system. They were in one training session at the beginning of the campaign and understand things and we do not do things too complicated. Both are very committed and want to help the team win this game. Experienced, who were in these positions, Euroleague players and like everyone else they will do everything for the success of the team. "
Another professional who came from Germany is the scout Yoav Shamir who watched closely in Estonia surprising the Germans and prepared the necessary video as a tactical preparation for the game.
During the flight from Israel, Goodes and his assistants Nadav Zilberstein and Dror Cohen also worked overtime on learning the opponent and correcting mistakes from the game against Poland.
"There are good feelings," Goodes said. "We saw the Estonians and we know them. We have to be focused because they like to score threes. We'll have to be focused with the ball 40 minutes. "The players work hard and want to play for the team."
Guy Panini, the veteran player on the team, added: "I last played here ten years ago. It's fun to play in this hall and I know we have to be focused to win."
Pearls vs. Poland.
Memories from the past, Photo: Oded Karni
Dozens of members of the Jewish community in the city are expected to come to the game and encourage the Israeli team that will try to erase the bad impression it left here from the defeat in February 2018 and go up to a 0: 2 balance that will put it in a good position at the start of the campaign.
Under Corona's rules in Estonia, 3,360 spectators will be able to attend the game - about half of the hall's occupancy.
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