Latvia coach George Dikeoulakos had to wait unitl the last day but secured a spot in Poland

There is weeping and gnashing of teeth, and there are tears of joy.

Qualifying for the EuroBasket Women 2011 is done.

Much of the happiness, it turns out, is in Greece.

While the Greeks had already qualified for next year's big event in Poland by virtue of their fifth-place finish at EuroBasket 2009, the players have been pulling desperately for Latvia to make it, too.

That's because the Baltic team's coach, George Dikeoulakos, was an assistant boss of the Greek side last summer.

When Latvia destroyed Serbia 80-55 on Sunday in Riga to give them the advantage in the goal differential tie-breaker, the Greek players were cheering them on all the way.

"For the first time, a national team (Latvia) was so much supported from another national team (Greece)," Dikeoulakos said to Basketball World News.

"All the Greek girls were every night on the internet watching our games, calling me after the games, supporting me."

Dikeoulakos, who was in a jovial mood, then joked: "They had more stress for the games than our players."

Serbia went into the game in first place but ended up on the outside of the EuroBasket Women looking in.

Their coach, Miodrag Veskovic, was disappointed but kept the result in perspective.

"We have a new team, working together only two months, but anyway, I'm proud of my team and I hope that the future will become better," he said.

Israel: First EuroBasket Women Win Coming

Israel are sky high, too.

They won Group B after a 79-72 victory over Romania and will return to the Final Round where they have yet to win a game in their history.

"We are in a process and we're getting better with every year," guard Liron Cohen said.

"We want to claim a first win in the EuroBasket.

"We have a talented team and I believe in this generation of players."

Israel had to win the game to be assured of reaching the EuroBasket.

Though Romania lost for the sixth time in as many games, they continued to push their opponents to the end.

Romania had nearly upset Serbia in their penultimate game.

"It was a tough game because we played against a team that had nothing to lose," coach Eli Rabi said.

"The girls were very tired and nervous.

"It's a big achievement, it was a very big effort for us, but it ended in the best way possible.

"We will come ready and humble to the EuroBasket. We have experience from our previous appearances and we will not be coming to Poland just to participate."

Croatia's Women Clinch

Croatia Head Coach Stipe Bralic and his team were all smiles after winning themselves a spot in EuroBasket Women

When the EuroBasket Women qualifying got underway, Croatia weren't a side most people were picking to reach Poland.

But Sunday's 85-70 triumph at Belgium clinched a spot in the Final Round for Stipe Bralic's team.

Croatia got a terrific performance from Jelena Ivezic for the third time in four games.

Ivezic poured in 18 points and hauled in seven boards.

Croatia played at the EuroBasket in Italy three years ago but didn't reach last year's Final Round in Latvia.

"We're extremely proud that we qualified for the EuroBasket Women now," Bralic said.

As for Belgium, the loss capped a hugely frustrating summer for the women's team.

With Ann Wauters and Kathy Wambe back in the team, expectations were high but they won just two of eight games.

Coach Arvid Diels said: "This is a big disappointment for me and my team.

"We missed completely our objectives during this campaign. We have to reflect on it and analyze what went wrong with this group."

Slovakia also made it back to the Final Round by edging Germany 73-67 in Kosice to finish second behind Great Britain in Group D.

"We expected a tough game," Slovakia coach Pokey Chatman said. "The girls were not nervous, but excited and wanted to do really well.

"Germany scored 23 point in the second half, so the key to our win was good defense.

"Thanks to the players."

Turkey also came in first place in Group C, finishing ahead of Montenegro though both sides advanced.