On August 9, Serbia’s men’s basketball team lost to the United States men’s basketball team with a score of 91-95, missing out on the gold medal match.
In his post-game interview, Bogdanovic expressed gratitude to those who support the team.
“Thank you all for giving it your all. This was a tough loss, but I am proud of how we fought throughout the game,” he said.
At the same time, Bogdanovic emphasized that despite losing the game, the team never lost its fighting spirit, saying, “We did not give up, and this is something we can be proud of.”
He also pointed out that if a few plays had been handled better during the game, especially those emotionally charged and controversial moments involving the referees, the result might have favored Serbia.
“We tried to talk to them, but they were unwilling to communicate with us, they just walked away. But it doesn’t matter, the U.S. team didn’t need that kind of help to beat us. You know, when they grab us with both hands, we don’t get that kind of help,” Bogdanovic said.
“We gave it our best shot. We could have made a few more shots, but that’s the nature of basketball,” he explained.
He also stated that he wanted to win against the referees and maintained no communication with them throughout the game.
“I’m not one to talk about the referees, you know, I even wanted to win against the referees, having them respect our composure throughout the game, so there was no talking to them,” he clarified.
Despite having differing opinions on some calls, he did not want to dwell on it.
“These referees will still officiate games, so we cannot talk about them now. I don’t want to think like a loser about things like the referees, etc. Even though I believe they could have made different calls,” he said.
“I’m not one to talk about the referees, I even wanted to win against the referees,” Bogdanovic continued. Looking ahead, Bogdanovic and his team are focused on preparing for the bronze medal match.
“In two days, we need to recover and fight for the bronze. The match against Germany will definitely be tough, but we need to bring our best performance,” he said.