South Sudan‘s Olympic debut in men’s basketball started badly, but ended with the nation’s first victory at the games, a 90-79 win over Puerto Rico on Sunday.
The wrong national anthem was played for the African nation before the start of the game. The recorded track was stopped after 20 seconds.
The South Sudanese players and their fans stood confused, and booing commenced. They then began clapping as South Sudan’s players stood in unison with their hands over their hearts, waiting for the right song.
Puerto Rican players did the same in solidarity.
“It’s the pride for their country,” said South Sudan coach Royal Ivey, who is American. “South Sudan. ‘Sud’ means ‘the land of the Black.’ These guys wanted to play. Wanted to hear their anthem.
“They messed up on the anthem, but they got it correct. We all make mistakes. I’m definitely going to put that in comments. But at the end of the day, these guys are brothers.”
The audio was restarted — this time with the correct anthem — about three minutes later to an ovation from fans. When it concluded, South Sudan’s players embraced and prepared for the opening tipoff.
“It gave us fuel to the fire,” said South Sudan forward Nuni Omot, who finished with 12 points. “Obviously, we felt disrespected when that happened. We’ve got to still earn our respect. So, I feel like for us we’ve got to continue to show the world what we’re capable of. That was just a testament, people not respecting us still.”
The South Sudan squad almost upset Team USA in a pre-Olympics exhibition, losing 101-100 on a last minute layup by LeBron Jamess.
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