The ‘fasoulas’ dynasty

Women’s Eurobasket – Group A – working day 3

Spain

Greece

“I chose basketball”, says Mariella Fasoula (Greece, 1997). She did it at the age of eight when she saw her father and her brother playing and wanted to join them. A union that was forged little by little until it became a legacy. Daughter of the legendary center Panagiotis Fasoulas —who won a Euroleague with Olympiacos defeating Aito Garcia Reneses’ Barca just four months before the center was born—, the Greek national team player assures that she has learned from her father never to give up . “No matter what happens and whatever the situation of the match, he always tells me never to give up and don’t show that I’m irritated or frustrated, to continue until the end. I think that’s one of the best pieces of advice from her because it’s so easy to give up, you know? If you are losing by 11, by 15… It’s easy to collapse at those times and it’s difficult to continue. But when a team manages to overcome that adversity and when they win after suffering, those are the best victories”.

The athlete, who last season shared a dressing room with Silvia Dominguez, Leonor Rodriguez and Maite Cazorla at the Perfumerias Avenida de Salamanca, adds that “I don’t like facing them at all, but there are no worthwhile friendships on the court.” In fact, she indicates that her respect for the captain, Silvia Dominguez, is immeasurable: “Silvia is a legend. She’s a leader and what’s most fascinating to me is that she not only leads on the track, she leads off the track as well. She makes you a better player and a better person. From her I have learned to keep her calm, because sometimes I lose her. For me it has been and is an honor to play with her, but tomorrow we will try to follow our game plan and win”.

And a Greek victory is precisely what Spain must avoid if it wants to ensure its permanence in this Eurobasket. After losing their debut against Latvia, the team recovered by beating Montenegro, leaving a four-way tie in group A with only one game to play in the group stage. Losing could mean packing your bags and winning could mean being first in the group and going directly to the quarterfinals.

The cabals are multiple because Spain does not depend solely on itself and will have to look askance at the match that will face Montenegro and Latvia (11.15). The options are as follows: a victory would ensure Spain be first or second in the group. Occupying that first place will depend on a defeat for Latvia at the hands of Montenegro. A fiasco against Greece would greatly complicate Spanish options, which could be eliminated in the hypothetical case that if that happens, Latvia loses its game.

Silvia Dominguez, captain of the national team and of Perfumerias Avenida, has a clear objective: to win. Immersed in what will probably be her last Eurobasket, the Catalan knows the Greek center well, of whom she praises her ability to grow and her dominance in the low post. “I think that Fasoula is one of the most important players and her contribution is paramount. I have seen her grow in two years in an incredible way. She has become a strong and dominant player, she has many resources to play up front, with her back, it is very difficult to defend, she has a lot of confidence playing and is in very good shape. But we will try to stop her and that she is not comfortable within the party, ”she underlines.

The base wants to get rid of the thorn in the defeat of the European team in Valencia in 2021, and to do so they have the desire and the support of an unconditional eight-year-old fan —the same ones Fasoula had when he chose basketball—, who is clear about what time should you turn on the television to see your mother compete: “Reconciliation is not easy. In the concentration we have been in different cities and in the end we have only seen each other two days in the last month, although technology and video calls help a lot in that regard. The fact that he is eight years old makes him follow basketball in a different way and I feel a lot of support. He knows what time I play, where I play, the players on the other team. He knows that tomorrow we will play against Greece, that Fasoula is there and he tells me to tell him this or that, it is very nice to live all this ”, he concludes.

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