Al Riyadi’s Wael Arakji: “We’re doing our best for our country"

Anthony Valmoria
Sept 14 2024

Patriotism prevails for Lebanese star Wael Arakji as Al Riyadi Beirut’s journey continues in the FIBA Intercontinental Cup 2024 in Singapore.

First going up vs Spain’s Unicaja filled with American and European imports, Al Riyadi lost by 37 points 59-96 in their opening match of the tournament and was outmatched talent-wise and height-wise. 

Unicaja outplayed Al Riyadi on both ends of the floor, getting deflections, and made more than 50 percent of their shots from the field – and Arakji could not help but voice out his disappointment after the tough loss. 

“We had a pretty decent start, to be honest – pretty decent first half. They definitely have a deeper team. The rules of this tournament are already in their favor – they have more foreigners and they have mixed nationalities in their team.

The man awarded the ‘best point guard in Asia’ put in some notable highlights throughout the game, scoring 11 points on 5/11 shooting, but it just wasn’t enough against the European champions.

Despite losing big against the Spanish side, Arakji remained steadfast in his goal of playing and representing their country Lebanon with utmost pride across their chests.

“Playing here (FIBA ICC) is way different for us [compared to these teams]. For us, we are playing for Lebanon – we’re doing our best for our country.”

“Yeah there’s a huge difference with the score but I’m really happy and proud of our performance,” Arakji said.

Al Riyadi quickly got down to work and displayed that pride when they produced a tough win in their second game against African reps Petro de Luanda from Angola, winning 80-75. Arakji was not able to contribute much after going scoreless in 6 minutes of action, but he’ll take a win any day of the week over personal stats.

The Lebanese, who are the Asian representatives in the Intercontinental basketball meet, will now play tomorrow against Australia’s Tasmania JackJumpers for a chance to secure the consolation third-place match.