From Lisbon to Debrecen. From the ‘golden juniors’ led by Gasol, Navarro and Raúl López to the generation of 2004 led by Jordi Rodríguez, Izan Almansa and Rafa Villar. 24 years later, Spain won the under-19 world championship for the second time in its history. Dani Miret’s men defeated an exceptional France thanks to enormous doses of grit, faith and talent. Jordi Rodríguez and Izan Almansa supported Spain for many minutes. In extra time it was Rafa Villar who shone with seven points to lead Spain to glory almost a quarter of a century later.
The game began with a hopeful alternation in the electronic. Spain was capable of scoring from the perimeter, with a very successful Jordi Rodríguez (10 points in the first quarter), and in the paint Izan Almansa and Baba Miller worked well against the French centers. In addition, the defense of Isaac Nogués stopped the executioners of the United States.
However, in the second quarter France raised their physical level in defense and Spain stopped scoring inside the paint. Suddenly, nobody could find a clean shot and the triples did not go in. France went 21-25 Driven by Zacharie Perrin (14), the French dominated the rebound (14 vs. 21 at halftime) and Dani Miret’s men, the Spanish coach, choked on free throws (6 of 13). Ajinca (11 points) and Bouzidi (6) led France in attack, which was better, although Spain survived. When the worst feelings were transmitted by the Spanish team, the defense appeared to support it. At halftime, 28-29 in the electronic was pure gold.
At the restart the tendencies were maintained, but Spain achieved a little more fluidity in attack to get back in front in electronics. However, soon the problems came again and France went back to leave on the scoreboard (34-39). The French aggressiveness made them reach the bonus very soon and Spain took advantage of it. To this was added the irruption of Nogués, who with five steals allowed Meret’s men to run and return to the game at the end of the quarter (43-43).
In the last quarter, France stepped on the accelerator and thanks to a spectacular Perrin, he achieved the maximum of the game (46-53). But once again Spain returned, resilient like few teams. A 6-0 run returned the game to Spain. There the party went completely crazy. The defenses disappeared and both teams began to score very easily. Baba Miller appeared with eight consecutive points, but Sarr and Ajunca responded to take a four (59-63) lead with one minute to go. Spain continued to believe and Jordi Rodríguez appeared to force the extension.
Rafa Villar appeared in the addition to star in the final feat. With Perrin sent off, the Spanish point guard found spaces where there were none and with 7 points he led the triumph of Spain, world champion 24 years later.
