USA collides with Germany, Canada battles Serbia as FIBA World Cup semis get underway

Four teams will vie but only two will move forward when the semifinals stage of the 2023 FIBA World Cup kicks off on Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena with four powerhouse teams seeing action.

Team USA will take on Germany at 8:40 p.m. with hopes to continue its title redemption bid while star-studded Canada will slug it out against surging Serbia in the opening salvo at 4:45 p.m.

None of the four teams, surprisingly, were part of the final four squads in the 2019 edition.

After winning back-to-back titles in 2010 in Turkey and 2014 in China, the Americans absorbed an early exit in 2019 in Spain after falling to France in their quarterfinals showdown, 89-79.

And with a chance for a return to the finals now, USA is expected to go full throttle against the Germans with young guns Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, Mikal Bridges, and Austin Reaves leading the way. On the way to the semis, USA almost went unscathed as it defeated New Zealand, Greece, and Jordan in the first round before dominating Montenegro. However, they did fall to Lithuania in the second round.

But the Americans then bounced back strong and pulled off a stunning 100-63 victory against Italy in the quarterfinals.

They won't have it easy in the semis, especially with Germany eyeing to get its first-ever World Cup win against the USA. Tipped to lead Germany are Dennis Schroder, who is the current leading scorer and passer in the squad, and brothers Franz and Mo Wagner.

Meanwhile, Canada, also bannered by several NBA players, is looking to defeat Serbia and avert a 2014 finals rematch between the latter and the USA.

Canada is coming off a statement 100-89 triumph over the Luka Doncic-led Slovenia and the likes of Shai Gilgeous-Walker, RJ Barrett, Dillon Brooks, and Kelly Olynyk aren't ready to end their journey yet.

In order to do that, however, they will have to stop Bogdan Bogdanovic, Stefan Jovic, Nikola Milutinov, and Filip Petrusev as the Serbians look to make a finals comeback for the first time since 2014, where they fell to USA in the gold medal match.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News