The World Under-19 Championship

Israel started the championship very successfully by crushing Peru, who were playing at home, and managing to defeat them by a 25-point margin with a score of 102 points. Due to the potentially political situation, the game between Israel and Jordan did not take place, so Israel had extra time to rest and prepare for the game against Dominica. The young team of Dominica lost to the Swiss team, and their offense also seemed weak with a score of 76 points against Switzerland and 79 points against the youth team of Jordan. Although youth teams are unpredictable, Israel appears to be significantly better and seeing their game against Switzerland and strong offense, Dominica does not seem to have a chance against them. Therefore, even though it is a large deficit, in such championships we often see big score gaps.

39 rockets against 172.
The tennis players met twice four to five years ago. Although Kalinskaja won both matches 2-0, the handicap in both matches was not greater than five games.

Now - a completely different story. First of all, the matches will be played on grass, not on hard courts like before. Stojanovic has already played three matches in England and won all of them, as would be expected. Previously, there was another match in the Netherlands. In other words, the Serbian has already acclimated to the green surface.

The Russian currently does not show anything good in her cards. Recently, she lost to a weaker opponent, Bouskova, in the RG tournament, and in Berlin on grass, she managed to lose to an absolute underdog, Seidel.

In short, it is still unknown which of the future opponents will be better prepared. Based on everything, Kalinskaja will have a tough time and will not easily defeat her opponent.

In this City, the clear favorites and I think they should not have much trouble winning and moving on to the next stage where more serious matters should start. Hilal Ghana didn't look too bad in the group, only conceding one goal, which was quite unexpected because their defense looked poor during the season. However, their opponents in the group stage did not show much from the better side. Salzburg and Pachuca were not at the same level, lacking better form. Even Real didn't look like their top form in the first match, but they still had to score at least 2-3 goals, including a missed penalty. Maybe the acclimatization was still affecting them or maybe it was the first match, the heat, and they needed time to adapt, just like City, who struggled in their first match against Wydad and only scored two goals, although they could have easily had an over result. But then, City's attack fired up and they scored 11 goals in total against Al Ain and Juventus. They played well and were in good form, and I believe that Hilal will finally feel the true force of the opponents' attack and their defensive problems will be highlighted, which have been plaguing the club the entire season. I just don't believe they will be able to hold on if City maintains the same pace and class in their recent matches.

39 rockets against 172.
The tennis players met twice four to five years ago. Although Kalinskaja won both matches with a score of 2:0, the handicap in both was not greater than five games.

Now - a completely different story. First of all, the games will be played on grass, not on a hard surface like the previous times. Stojanovic has already played three matches in England and won all of them, of course. Before that, there was another match in the Netherlands. In short, the Serbian player is already getting used to the green surface.

At the moment, Rusaitė is not showing any good results. She recently lost to Bouskova, who is weaker than her, at the RG tournament, and in Berlin on grass she managed to lose to Seidel, who is a complete outsider.

In short, it is still unknown which of the future opponents will be better prepared. According to everything, Kalinskaja will have a hard time and will not easily defeat her opponent.

New Zealand - NBL league.

Two of the top teams in the league meet for the second time this season. The highly competitive championship and regular season are coming to an end, and the battle for first place is still alive. Both teams, Saints and Rams, have 4 losses, so the fight should be intense. The New Zealand club relies on its offensive game. Rams is the league's top offensive team, averaging 99.1 points per game, while also allowing 84.6 points. Saints, the second strongest offensive team in the league, consistently scores 95.5 points per game and allows 83.6. As the season draws to a close, players are getting better and better at attacking the basket, and teams are scoring higher numbers on offense. In their previous meeting, the total score was high. Both teams are strong on offense and often surpass this score, while weaker teams struggle to score, so when two top offensive teams meet, I believe there will be a high-scoring game.

FC Madrid is showing better form lately and is generally playing very well, while Juventus has been struggling. Madrid, with their new coaches, has improved team coordination. Mbappe's return would greatly strengthen the team. Juventus is not in a tragic state, but they are not the same team to be feared in Europe.

In the knock-out stage, so far there have been quite a few cards in all of the round of 16 matches except for the PSG game where the winner was determined very early. However, I don't think we can expect the same to happen so early again. The referee, J. Valenzuela from Venezuela, showed 9 yellow cards in the two games. Of course, I think we can expect oversia to receive warnings for players from the "Al Hilal" team, but there could also be a player from the English side who gets a card.

I had the opportunity to observe the Jews and was pleasantly surprised by their playing style - fast-paced offense, free-flowing basketball, a love for running and not hesitating in attacks. They are definitely not supporters of positional basketball, and this time they even have a rival who does not play positional basketball. The Dominican national team, just like the men's team, often plays a hurricane-type game, where the main weapon is to attack, rather than defend. The Jews, after getting energy from the game against Jordan, will definitely have enough for their rapid offense against Peru.

The Australian team has shown that they can physically compete with their opponents and they appeared to have a strong defense against the Americans. The Australians should also be able to face the French, who are known for playing fast basketball, but may encounter some difficulties in their defensive play. The French team themselves are not the most talented this year, so the focus should be on starting from a solid defense. They were able to contain Cameroon and could potentially do the same against the Australians.

AmeriCup
As always, the American team is on a different level and is determined to win this tournament without much difficulty. Our offense looks great, it's hard to assess the defense because we haven't faced tougher opponents, but the Puerto Rican team will be the biggest challenge for our defense. The Puerto Rican team, as always, plays a fast-paced and offensive-oriented basketball, they have some good players who have had good stats in Europe and there are also players with WNBA contracts on their team.

Finland champions are looking very strong this season, especially at home where the team has 18 points in 8 matches. Their opponents are a lower division club Gnistan, who have already been defeated 1-2 away this season, and KuPS who have only won the two previous meetings at home. I believe we can expect a similar outcome this time.

The prediction is based on the current poor situation in Saudi Arabia regarding attacks. This creates opportunities and even scores for the Real team, but without their true attacking leader Mitrovič, Al Hilal team struggles to score goals, as shown by their failure to score against Salzburg and Pachuca with only 8 shots on goal. City defends well, conceding only 1 goal against Juventus, and I believe they will have an even stronger mindset in the playoffs. They should also be able to control the ball and the game, as they are superior in the midfield. It will be difficult for them to score without the ball, considering their poor scoring record. On the other hand, City must continue their impressive streak with coach Pep, who has won all 11 matches in cup competitions.

The royal club of Madrid, Real, starts the knockout stages and has faced a strong opponent in terms of the championship, but weak compared to European standards. Juventus is no longer the team that was one of the strongest in Europe, now they have a rather weak and average squad that sometimes manages to score but consistently loses, especially against teams of this level like Real. We can see a strong determination from Spanish clubs both in terms of discussions before the championship and during the games. Although the new Real coach is trying to maneuver the squad, I believe that the Madrid club is much stronger and Juventus' abilities were clearly shown in their easy defeat by City in the last round of the group stage. The odds are good because Juventus' successful game against very weak teams seems to have overshadowed everyone, and I think we should take advantage of that.

The Dutchman De Jong, who looks very poorly on grass, has only won 1 match in 4 grass tournaments this season, and that was against the 1164th ranked ATP player, so his performance on grass must be unsuccessful. His opponent, the American Eubanks, may not be in the best form, but this experienced tennis player knows how to play on grass, having won a tournament in Spain in 2023 and reaching far in Wimbledon. Although it's difficult to expect such a good game, his good matches against Rublev and Tiafoe show the form he can beat the Dutchman with. Of course, it can be said that it's a toss-up, but the American's ability on grass and good performances are very motivating when the Dutchman looks just tragic. Time will tell.

The current tournament has shown that both teams are doing fairly well in attack, but there is room for improvement in defense. The match against Manchester City exposed Juventus' weaknesses in defense, and even though they were able to hide some mistakes against the two Arab clubs, their defense looked weak against a top-level attack. Against Real Madrid, it's hard to expect anything better, especially if Mbappe returns. Real Madrid, to be fair, also did not shine in defense, and the two goals conceded in the group stage were more due to the opponents' inability to score rather than solid defensive play. With Juventus, they may not get away with it and should not get away with it. I believe that the key factor in determining the outcome of the match will be the attack.

Real Madrid has started to show good form after a not-so-successful tournament start and potential star Mbappe will return to the lineup for this match. I will not mention anything new about these teams' offensive abilities, as we saw two goals being scored in a blink of an eye. However, when they played against Man City, we saw that they have weaknesses in defense, as they let in 5 goals in that game, and even one of the lower ranked teams, Wydad, managed to score against them. I believe that at least 2 goals will be scored against the Italian team.