The long road winding down at the World Cup, where semifinals await Team USA

MANILA, Philippines — This seemed so far away in the beginning. There was a week of training camp in Las Vegas for USA Basketball to get through, then a week in Spain, then a week in Abu Dhabi, the group stage of the World Cup, then the second round, then the quarterfinals. They’ve flown 14,000 miles, eaten more than 100 meals away from home, played 11 games, posed for countless photos.

All for this. The medal round at the Basketball World Cup is here.

The U.S. plays Germany on Friday night in the World Cup semifinals, with a berth in Sunday’s gold-medal game awaiting the winner. It’s a rematch of an exhibition from three weeks ago, when the U.S. rallied from 16 points down to win 99-91. Germany hasn’t lost since and is the only team still unbeaten in this tournament.

“Everything that we’ve done in preparation for the last five and a half weeks has been to get to this point,” U.S. coach Steve Kerr said. “It’s not like we’re all of a sudden going to give them a Knute Rockne speech, even though none of them know who Knute Rockne was. But that speech wouldn’t work anyway. Show them what we need to do, let them be themselves, that’s the plan.”

So, no fire-and-brimstone speech like the ones the old Notre Dame football coach remains famous for are coming. None should be needed, not with this summer’s ultimate goal — the World Cup title — so close, and with the knowledge that Germany will come into this game truly believing it can win.

For good reason, too. Germany was better for long stretches of that exhibition game, then came unglued down the stretch. Anthony Edwards had 34 points, the U.S. pulled away with an 18-0 run, and that was barely enough to get the win.

“We’re ready to get it done,” Edwards said before practice Thursday. “We’re ready to try to get it done.”