Sasha Djordjevic, head coach of the Serbian national basketball team, announced that he's stepping down during a press conference after his team defeated the Czech Republic in the 5-8 Classification Round game at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Beijing on Saturday.

"Yes, it’s true. Yes, I’m leaving. I would’ve left the team after the World Cup even if we had achieved our goals. It was a decision I made before the summer," Djordjevic told Serbian media, according to FIBA’s Igor Curkovic.

Before he became a coach, Djordjevic was an outstanding point guard for then Yugoslavia who memorably fought all-conquering USA in the final at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Yugoslavia were one of the few teams that could put up some resistance against the Americans at that time.

Since retiring from playing in 2005, Djordjevic has worked as a coach. In 2013, he was appointed head coach of Serbia. His team challenged USA twice in the finals of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics and lost.

Before the 2019 World Cup, Serbia, who had claimed 10 straight wins in warm-up games, were seen my many as one of the biggest contenders for the title. With NBA players like Nikola Jokic, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Nemanja Bjelica, the team smashed all opponents at the first stage, further convincing the world that they were capable of defeating USA this time.

However, they lost subsequently to Spain and Argentina, Serbia missed the semifinals but met USA after all in the 5-8 Classification Round. In the end, beating the defending champion 94-89 was at least a face-saving win.