Road to Paris: SSD vs Great Britain

The South Sudan Basketball Federation (SSBF) is proud to announce a pre-Olympic friendly between the National Men's Basketball Team (SSD) and Great Britain (GB). The game is scheduled for July 18th at the Copper Box Arena in London at 7.30pm GMT.

In a remarkable concurring moment, Luol Deng, the President of the Federation, will lead his current Olympic team (SSD) to face Great Britain, his former Olympic team. 

“Playing in London against Great Britain in a friendly game feels like a dream come true. Having the chance to play in my hometown in front of family, friends, and lifelong supporters is truly a storybook moment.

Just as South Sudan has made significant strides in basketball over the past four years, we faced similar challenges with the GB team for the London 2012 Olympics. Now, returning to London with the South Sudan National Team marks a full circle in my incredible journey. I can hear my late coach, Jimmy Roger, cheering from above, telling me, "Keep driving the body, son.”

Luol Deng

National Team Director, Steve Vear is delighted such a pivotal game will happen where he and Luol met over 25 years ago and alludes to the game being in the pipeline for months.

“Since we qualified for Paris 2024 back in September of last year, I have been working with the British Basketball Federation to see the possibilities of hosting us in our preparations for the Olympic Games.

To now see it all come to fruition is truly amazing where I want to personally thank Dan Clark of the GB Men’s Team for all of his hard work as well as TEG Sport for being so accommodating to add this game around our showcase against the USA.”

The friendly game against Great Britain completes the team’s game schedule in London prior to playing USA on July 20 ahead of SSD’s Olympic debut. 

More details on the full training camp schedule and squad will be published shortly.

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