Women's Euro basketball: 5th defeat in a row final for the Blue

They had come to seek the gold, they will have to be satisfied with the silver. As always, as too often. The curse continues. Inexorably. Unrecognizable, the players of the France team were logically beaten (54-63), Sunday in Spain, by Serbia in the final of the European Championship. A small score but a huge disappointment. A terrible disillusionment. After 2013, 2017 and 2019 against Spain and in 2015, already against Serbia, it is the 5th consecutive final of a Euro that the Blue ones lose. The smiles on the Serbian faces contrast with the closed faces and the reddened eyes of the French women.

France, which has scattered its opponents like a puzzle since the start of the competition (victory with a difference of 22.6 points on average) has completely missed its meeting.

A real collective bankruptcy.

We will therefore have to wait a little longer to find the heirs to the Pioneers of Yannick Souvré, European champions in 2001, and to the Braqueuses of Céline Dumerc, crowned on the continent in 2009.

Terrible finish.

Les Bleues 🇫🇷 bow to Serbia and have to settle for a new silver medal 🥈 # FRASER #EDFBasket pic.twitter.com/5Sdk5E7WJ2

- French Basketball Teams (@FRABasketball) June 27, 2021

Overwhelmed by the stakes, the two teams, under the eyes of Tony Parker present in Valence after seeing his club Asvel win the title of champion of France the day before, multiply the errors and bad choices at the start of the match. But in this game, the Serbs are doing the best. Miraculous against the Spanish host in the quarterfinals (71-64 AD) then against Belgium in the half (74-73), they play without pressure and gradually weave their web. They compensate for their lack of skill with an iron defense.

Opposite, the Blue, deprived of their playmaker Olivia Epoupa and uninspired like a Sandrine Gruda yet so precious since the start of the Euro, are powerless in the face of all-terrain pressure from their opponents. They multiply failed shots. They have never been so rushed since the start of the Euro. The gap swells in favor of Serbia who takes advantage of the tricolor errors (18-31, 17th).

Best attack of the Euro until the final, with 82 points scored on average, the French only scored 26 at the break (26-31, 20th). If the ascent still seems possible, hope quickly flies back from the locker room. A scathing 2-15 Serbs in 6 minutes prematurely puts an end to all suspense (28-46, 26th). Valérie Garnier, who walks 100 steps along her bench, has no solution. There are still more than 10 minutes to play but the dream is already gone. The harvest driven by young Alexia Chartereau (22) and Valeriane Vukosavljevic will come too late.

Endy Miyem's partners, who will now benefit from a few days off, will meet at the end of the week to prepare for the Tokyo Games which start in a month (23 July-8 August). It will be necessary to digest this terrible disillusion to return to the fight and try to glean an Olympic medal.