体坛英语新闻：Spanish basketball team celebrates Euro success in Madrid

MADRID, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Spanish basketball team celebrated its victory in the EuroBasket tournament in the capital city of Madrid on Monday.

The Spanish had claimed their third European crown on Sunday when they defeated Lithuania by an impressive 80-63 in Lille. Led by 35-year-old Pau Gasol, who was voted MVP of the tournament the Spanish were superb in the knockout stage and showed their personality in the semi-finals when Gasol scored 40 points as they came back from 11 points down against France.

The win helped erase the disappointment suffered by the Spanish in last year' s World Championship where Spain was knocked out of the quarter-finals by the French in front of their own support.

After flying into Madrid airport at midday, the team and coach, Sergio Scariolo were taken to meet Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy at his official residence and then travelled into the Plaza de Callao in the middle of Madrid.

Rajoy said the team had "made millions of people happy, while asking for nothing in return."

Despite it being a working day the streets and the Plaza were packed with thousands of fans looking for a glimpse of their heroes and to celebrate alongside them a result which confirms the quality of a generation which has also won the 2006 World Championships as well as Olympic silver medals in Beijing and London.