Following host nation Spain's elimination from the FIBA World Cup in Wednesday's loss to France, the country's "four biggest sports newspapers," Marca, AS, Sport and Mundo Deportivo, "used terms very similar to what was used when Spain's football team was eliminated from the World Cup," according to LIBERTAD DIGITAL. Marca's cover featured a picture of Pau Gasol and the headline, "Bajoncesto," with the subtitle, "The saddest night in Spanish basketball." Marca called it a "collective shipwreck, on the court and on the bench." AS's cover read, "Batacazo ante Francia" ("Bang against France"). It included a quote from Juan Carlos Navarro, who said, "We have not prepared well for this game and it passed right over us." Barcelona-based Sport's headline said, "KO y fracaso" ("KO and failure"). Mundo Deportivo, also based in Barcelona, said, "Se esfuma el sueño" ("The dream vanishes,") with the subhead, "France, which will face Serbia in the semifinals, guillotines the national team" (LIBERTAD DIGITAL, 9/11).
FRANCE CELEBRATES: The EFE reported the French press celebrated France's win. French newspaper L'Equipe's headline read, "Giants." A L'Equipe columnist called it "one of the biggest moments in French sports, perhaps the best from the beginning of the 21st century along with the world record for pole vaulting set by Renaud Lavillenie." Le Parisien "also dedicated its cover photo to France's win, with the headline, 'What prowess'" (EFE, 9/11).
