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Giannis Antetokounmpo dreams of Greece beating USA

Photo: Stacy Revere / Getty Images

Milwaukee Bucks forward and Greece international Giannis Antetokounmpo is dreaming big.

He wants to end the unbeaten run of the USA men’s national team, spanning eleven years.

“I’ll be the next one to beat them. I’ll be waiting for them somewhere,” Antetokounmpo said before leading a team in an exhibition game involving Greek and various foreign players in Athens on Sunday.

“When I was little I didn’t know what I will do but knew what I wanted to do. Like I’ve said, I want to beat team USA with my brothers,”

The Bucks forward was involved in an exhibition in his home country that included the 2005-06 Greece team – European champions in 2005 and runners-up to Spain at the 2006 World Cup.

Giannis Antetokounmpo was involved in an exhibition involving many of the 2006 Greece side that beat the USA. Photo: Eurohoops

They played a side which included brothers Giannis and Thanassis Antetokounmpo, and EuroLeague star Kyle Hines.

The Greek veterans, mostly in their late 30’s and early 40’s, came away with a narrow 92-91 win with the crowd rewarded with some spectacular dunks from both the Antetokounmpo brothers.

Greece were the last nation to defeat USA in international basketball play at the 2006 FIBA World Cup in Japan as they outsmarted the Americans with numerous pick-and-roll plays leading to an eventual 101-96 win.

Since then, the USA have learned from their mistakes and have dominated the international basketball scene with gold medal showings at three Olympic Games (2008, 2012 and 2016) and two World Cups (2010 and 2014).

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