By Cesare Milanti/ info@eurohoops.net
Riga, Latvia – Moving to the Round of 16 of EuroBasket 2025, Isaia Cordinier and France are ready to take on Georgia.
Coming out of Group D with a 4-1 W-L tally and first place in Poland, the knockout stage shifts action to Riga’s Xiaomi Arena with Georgia as the opponent on Sunday.
“Super happy to be here. First step done. We got the job done, finishing first. That was our first goal. And now let the dance begin,” said 28-year-old Cordinier.
His Virtus Segafredo Bologna teammate over recent years, Tornike Shengelia, is on the opposite side of the win-or-go-home contest.
“Right away after Greece’s game, we exchanged texts,” the French winger referred to a Greek win over Spain on Thursday evening to set up a meeting with Georgia, “First time we will compete against each other in the international competition. You go harder against your best friends, let’s say, but no friends on the floor.”
“This group was crazy competitive,” he shared his opinion on Group C action in Limassol, “I think that when you get out of this group, you only get stronger. So that’s a very, very serious team that we gotta take care of and be careful in details and just be ready to commit to play a very tough game.”
Cordinier also talked about Serbia finishing Group A with a 4-1 record, after falling to Turkiye on Wednesday.
“They were the favorites, I think they still are,” he noted, “Serbia, Germany, Turkiye, I think that these teams have the strongest game and everything. Obviously, Turkiye versus Serbia was an amazing game. And it just shows the level of competitiveness of this EuroBasket. For example, Spain is out. It just shows how high and how you have to get focused to play every single team and not only the top teams.”
Currently representing Italy in EuroBasket, Saliou Niang is set to replace the Creteil native at Virtus Bologna for the 2025-26 campaign at the club level, while the experienced winger moves his talents to Anadolu Efes.
“I think he will be very important for Virtus next season,” mentioned Cordinier, “The way he plays, it just shows the hustle and the motor he has. I think he will do great, and I’m very happy for him as well. I saw that he improved a lot this summer, too.”
Photo Credit: FIBA