FIBA: Watch: Bastian Schweinsteiger and Ana Ivanovic share “special” message ahead of Germany vs Serbia FIBA World Cup 2023 final

Watch: Bastian Schweinsteiger and Ana Ivanovic share “special” message ahead of Germany vs Serbia FIBA World Cup 2023 final

By Mike Murillo

Modified Sep 10, 2023 15:08 GMT

Serbia and Germany battle for the gold medal match of the 2023 FIBA World Cup on September 10.

Retired German soccer star Bastian Schweinsteiger and his Serbian wife Ana Ivanovic are an interested audience for the 2023 FIBA World Cup finals as their home countries are pitted against one another.

The couple had a special message on Twitter, now X, ahead of the marquee showdown on Sunday, Sept. 10, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Philippines. The game tips off at 8:40 a.m. ET.

In the post, Schweinsteiger is seen conversing with Ivanovic, sharing how interesting and exciting the matchup is for them.

“This is going to be interesting. What do you think?” the former Bayern Munich midfielder said.

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To which the former world No. 1 women’s player Ivanovic replied:

“And special for both of us.”

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Both Germany and Serbia are gunning for their first-ever FIBA World Cup title.

The Germans swept their way to the gold medal match, with their last two victories coming at the expense of Latvia, 81-79, in the quarterfinals, and the United States, 113-111, in the semifinals.

Serbia, for its part, is back in the finals after competing in it in the 2014 edition of the world basketball spectacle. In the quarterfinals, it dominated Lithuania, 87-68, then in the semifinals, held off a loaded Canadian team, 95-86.

Toronto Raptors guard Dennis Schroder is leading the Germans in their campaign with averages of 17.9 points, 6.7 assists and 1.4 steals. Brothers Franz and Moritz Wagner of the Orlando Magic are backstopping him with 16 and 12.4 points per game, respectively. Daniel Theis (12.1 ppg) and Andreas Obst (10.9 ppg) are the two other players in double-digit scoring.

For the Serbians, Bogdan Bogdanovic of the Atlanta Hawks is showing the way, averaging 19.4 points, 4.6 assists and 2.3 steals. Big man Nikola Milutinov has been averaging a near double-double of 13.6 points and nine boards, while Miami Heat player Nikola Jovic is adding 10.3 points per game.

Germany and Serbia have played one another only once in the FIBA World Championship, the predecessor of the World Cup. It was in a Group A match at the 2010 edition of the tournament, which saw the Germans outlast the Serbians in double overtime, 82-81.