In what many people are referring to as the biggest upset in basketball in a long time, the United States basketball team lost against the Australian basketball team.
It’s the first time the U.S. team has lost against Australia since 2006 and brings to an end the U.S. dominance in global men’s basketball. Even though the win is just by 4 points (98 to 94) it’s still a huge and significant win for the Aussies.
Many basketball fans say the loss was more surprising because the Australian “Boomers” team is ranked 11th while the U.S. team is ranked 1st. The ranking is done by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).
The loss happened in Melbourne, Australia to the joy of over 52,000 Australian crowd. It’s even said to be the single largest crowd of people to ever watch a basketball game in Australia.
For a country that loves “Footy” more than any other sport, the turnout was a big surprise.
The game was played in the recently renamed “Marvel Stadium” in Melbourne, Australia.
There were even many who turned out to watch the game live, rather than on TV. Many said they thought the only way Australia could win against the U.S. team was in video games, not real life.
Talking about video games, you can now get paid to play if you are good, as explained in this Kingged.com games article. You can even play basketball games online against other countries and even against the U.S team.
Of course such games are very different from reality but you may be able to feel some of the joy the Australian team got from winning against the US. team.
This Australian basketball win against the U.S team has motivated a lot of other countries who previously also thought the U.S. team was unbeatable.
It will be interesting to see what the result will be when the U.S team plays against other countries in the coming months.