I was eager to do a piece on my Czechs, who had won silver-silver-gold over the last three years at U16. And upon discovering that their coach for this tournament was American, I knew I'd have a good shot at getting some nice quotes.
I approached Ken Scalabroni after their first game and we chatted a bit. Then he said "I know you though..." - "well, actually, I live in Czech Republic," I replied. "I live in a small town near Prague, Cernosice" - "wait, I live in Cernosice!" I was totally unaware, but it was great to find out.
Unfortunately, the team struggled, surviving relegation by the skin of their teeth with an overtime win over Israel on the last day. The relegation battle was immense, with the Czechs somehow coming back to beat Netherlands the day before, while Israel had got their own miraculous win against Slovakia, with Eden Rotberg hitting three free throws on her own after she was fouled at the buzzer - skip to 1:54:25 on the below video to see the drama:
In the top half of the draw, France were imperious in the final, led by Alexia Chartereau. I had interviewed her previously and it was nice to talk to her again.
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| Amateur photography of The Final |
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| My short-lived attempt at stealing the trophy at the after-party! |
Otherwise, I caught up with Naira Caceres and Paula Ginzo from Spain, Russia's star Raisa Musina, hosts Hungary's best player Reka Lelik (who seemed to almost try and sabotage the interview by giving the same answer over and over!), plus Italian guard Elisa Pinzan (with the help of our charismatic photographer Matteo, who translated for her) and Belgian wing Laure Resimont.