WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP YUGOSLAVIA 1970
BRAZIL AS USUAL
USA, Czechoslovakia, Brazil, Italy, the USSR, and Uruguay qualified for the final round where they were awaited in Ljubjana by Yugoslavia and 12,000 enthusiastic fans who crammed the Tivoli arena with strong support for their team and hostility towards the USSR who they saw as the rival to beat.
The first obstacle for the USSR was the competition schedule. They would open against Brazil. A nice little ambush set by the organisers that would help the hosts as Brazil always rose to the occasion for the big events. The South Americans were without the legendary Amaury Pasos but had recovered the equally famous Wlamir Marques who, like Daneu, had announced his retirement from international basketball at the end of the tournament but held a full place in the squad.
Brazil, crushed by Spain only a few weeks before, had struggled to beat Italy in the first phase. However, they remained true to their championship tradition and surprised everyone by beating the USSR( 66-64). Gomelski ' s men could never counter their opponents speed and finally decided to play a zone defence, a tactic not favoured by Soviet teams of the time.
The first half went in favour of the USSR( 38-27) and they were overconfident when they returned to the court against the always dangerous, fighting Brazilians. In no time at all the score was tied by a magnificent Ubiratan. Due to foul eliminations the Brazilians had to face the final five minutes with only one centre( the aforementioned Ubiratan) and four small men: Marques, Helio, Olaio and“ Mosquito”, but by this time the Soviets ' spirits had dropped.
Yugoslavia, who had just managed to beat Italy with the help of some favourable refereeing, started to make their calculations. The Soviet defeat by Brazil eased their path towards the gold slightly, but their objective was to reach the final day match against USSR with everything decided so they had no room for failure.
Everything returned to normal on the second day. Czechoslovakia were the victims of the Soviet anger( 98-72), Uruguay could only manage a meagre 39 points against the USA and displaying such a poor image than people started to miss some of the absent nations, such as Spain; and Brazil continued with their carnival with victory over Italy( 69-59).
YUGOSLAVIA DO NOT FAIL
The first real test for Yugoslavia came on the third day. Brazil was an excellent challenge and a chance for them to prove that the difficulties against Italy were just a hiccup. The Yugoslavs dispelled any doubt. They gave a wonderful display of basketball and totally overshadowed a good Brazilian team and confirmed their aspirations by an eloquent 80-55.
The mystery of the poor Yugoslav performance against Italy had given rise to some unjustified criticism, especially in the local press. Ranko Zeravica had successfully renovated the team from the previous world championship. The group had overcome the traumatic death of Radijov Korac the year before. The young players, in particular Nikola Plecas, responded perfectly. However Kresimir Cosic was the real leader of the team. Every night the centre gave a display of mastery within the lane. His speed, tactics and individual skills were way above the average FIBA level and
201 FUNDACIÓN PEDRO FERRÁNDIZ