Greece returned to the European podium, “bronze” and proud, after a EuroBasket 2025 third-place game that felt like an epic and ended in triumph with a 92–89 victory over Finland, giving the National Team its first medal in 16 long years. The bench erupted, the stands turned into a Greek wave, and at the center of it all stood Vassilis Spanoulis — the man who reignited belief — speaking from the heart about a team that refused to break.

Spanoulis’ Statements

Visibly moved, the national coach dedicated the medal “to all of Greece — to Greeks here and abroad,” emphasizing that “all together, one team, one fist, we put on an amazing performance and completed an excellent tournament.”

He admitted that “we played a bad game against Turkey, we wronged ourselves,” but the response was immediate: “we picked up the pieces, came prepared, and got what we deserved.” He sent “a big congratulations to the guys,” thanking everyone who supported the effort, “even those who weren’t here,” and didn’t hide his belief that “in the coming years we won’t have such heart-stopping moments — God helped us, but above all we helped each other.”