Despite delivering a good performance, the Lebanese national team suffered a loss against the French team by a margin of six points, 85/79, in the finals of the Basketball World Cup. Lebanese basketball star Wael Arakji promised to put in a great effort along with his teammates in the upcoming placement matches against Iran and Ivory Coast in the 19th Basketball World Cup.
He expressed his feelings almost to the point of tears after the loss to France today, saying: "I wanted to make up for the losses against Latvia and Canada in the match against France, and I gave my all in the game against France. We have faced significant criticism as players and coaching staff."
He added, "We lost to France, which is a very strong team; we will fight until the end and give everything we have in the next two games against Ivory Coast and Iran. We have played three tough games against strong teams, and now we will fight until the end to improve our final standing. I have faced criticism since I started playing basketball, and some have forgotten what the team accomplished last year (runner-up in the Asia Championship against Australia). There are people who insult the coaching staff and players… We are doing our best for you against stronger teams and will continue to give our all for those who stand by us."
