The O2 hall in Prague is getting more and more crowded ahead of the opening whistle of the fourth home games on Friday in the match between the Israel national team and Finland (14:00 local time, 15:00 Israel).
After that, the local team will face Poland and today's games will be closed by the meeting between the favorite Serbia at home and the Netherlands, which is considered the weakest of them all.
Photo: Yaakov Meir, Prague
Just before, time for a short introduction to the beautiful Czech capital and the hall that has hosted quite a few major sporting events since it was established in 2002.
The historical pearl of Europe
Prague is known as one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
It has always played an important role in the history of the Czech Republic as well as in Europe and is famous as a cultural and economic center.
The O2 Hall in Prague.
will host the tournament, photo: Yaakov Meir
The unique character of the city is also a result of its natural environment.
Prague was built on nine hills along the Vltava River that flows through the city, and is also home to one of the largest castles in the world - the Prague Castle, which used to be the main residence of the kings of Bohemia.
Today, Prague is an important European city that attracts visitors largely through its abundance of architectural buildings.
It is also a place where cultural, social and political events of international importance take place as well as a popular destination for fairs and congresses.
A house of culture
The arena was built in 2002 as a multi-purpose hall and over the years has hosted large concerts, basketball, hockey and tennis games.
At concerts, the hall can accommodate up to 20,000 participants, and at basketball games, 16,000 spectators.
According to the organizers, the hall is not expected to be completely full during the games, but a large amount of fans will populate the stands and provide a great atmosphere, especially in the games of the local team.
Peter Pleczyk.
Wins the hall, photo: Efrat Eshel
Over the years, the arena in Prague hosted the Euroleague Final Four (2006, when Maccabi Tel Aviv lost in the final to CSKA Moscow), as well as the opening game of the US hockey league season between the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay, the final game of the World Indoor Hockey Championship , big performances by Madonna, Rihanna, Lady Gaga and other famous artists.
Our judo team also starred there at the 2020 European Championships when Peter Palchik won gold and Tal Flicker won silver.
Nano, Israel and the rest
In less than 24 hours and for six days, all the focus in the great hall will be solely on basketball.
The Czech team of the Israeli coach Nano Ginzburg will try to meet the high bar it set in the last tournaments and qualify for the round of 16 from one of the first two places at home.
The Israel national team as mentioned will also be there and hope to also qualify for Europe's top 16.
Nano Ginzburg.
His Czech Republic will meet the bar, photo: FIBA website
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