After failing to qualify for the two previous Eurobaskets and having never played a knockout game in a major tournament, the gold medal at the 1993 EuroBasket came as a surprise, beating the newly formed Slovakia in the semi-finals 73–55 and France in the final 63–53. With Blanca Ares as their key player (19 PPG), Spain undoubtedly took advantage of the dissolution of the dominant European teams of Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and especially the Soviet Union.