Dirk Bauermann (65) Thinks outside the box today. The former national coach of Tunisia is impressed by the team of South Sudan
I have a special view of South Sudan and their national team because I remember them well from my time on the African continent. When we won the 2021 African Championship with Tunisia, we also met South Sudan. This is a very special story because the country is in big political, infrastructural and economic problems. It is one of the poorest countries on the continent.
Despite this, the country has built such a great, young national team that has developed over several years. In 2021, it didn’t play a big role in the African Championship because it still had to pay a lot of dues. But then South Sudan played a successful World Cup qualifier. This development is linked to one name: Luol Deng. The former NBA player gives a lot back to his country by putting a lot of effort into basketball. He organises camps, invests in infrastructure and is also very present as president of the association. For example, he sits on the bench at the World Cup games.
You have to know that none of the current national players play in South Sudan, Deng paved the way for them to go abroad. They play either in Australia or in the USA at high schools or colleges. There is one big talent in Samuel Sooleyman. The 17-year-old is considered a potential NBA draft pick.
Great passion, lots of emotion
What impresses me so much is the great passion of the players, who invest a lot. They have also learned to play good team basketball. I think it’s interesting that you could see in the game against Puerto Rico that they are still young at heart, very quickly disappointed and sad. They go from being so happy to so sad in just a few minutes. They don’t yet have the emotional resilience that you need at this level. But that will definitely be the next step.
It’s just a great story of a small African country with big problems that is doing great at the moment. They won their second game against China by 20 points. Things like that are great fun for me – sometimes even more than many other things at a World Cup.
