Here it is, this first quarter-final of EuroBasket 2022! After having offered Lithuania in a sick match three days ago in the round of 16, the Spaniards are attacking Finland and their national hero Lauri Markannen. Our Hispanic neighbors are this time ultra-favorites, but in this EuroBasket we understood that we should NOT trust any logic of classification. Even less with the Finnish blond.
If we had been told a few weeks ago that Spain would play the game to enter the last four, we would have answered “Hmm why not”. But if we had been told that it would be against Finland, then we would have cringed. Once is not custom (it’s not the first time, but 1967 goes back), the Finns have therefore achieved the feat of qualifying for the quarter-finals of the EuroBasket. Perched on the tall shoulders of his interior Lauri Markannen, the selection of Lassi Tuovi lives a waking dream and hopes not to jump out of bed and take the strident alarm of Monday morning against the Spaniards. The metaphor is a little over the top, of course, but the Finns would say no less about their incredible journey. Endowed with an infallible confidence in their qualities, the Lapps are afraid of no one, and with Lauri Markannen leading the pack, supported by the crazy shooter Sasu Salin and a whole crew of golden-haired Vikings, everything seems possible. .
You could have said that after overthrowing one of the favorites in the round of 16, the Spaniards would be able to breathe a blow by facing the winner of Croatia-Finland. One would have thought that their road to a semi-final was going to be “easier”. We could have. But the unpredictable tendencies of this EuroBasket and the level of play displayed by Markannen are such that one thinks that Spain could very well fall into a Finnish trap. A crazy scenario, completely unheard of when you think of the pedigree of the two teams, but a scenario nevertheless probable although highly rated. In any case, Rudy Fernandez and his young guns must not underestimate their opponents if they want to join the last four of a EuroBasket again and thus shut the mouths of many detractors who did not see them going far without the pair Gasol and the captains who made La Roja the legendary team we know. We wish excellent courage to the young Usman Garuba who will have to try to slow down the Finnish interior in full power, and to all the young Hispanic guard, because Finland has absolutely nothing to lose.
ROSTERS
Spain : Lorenzo Brown, Jaime Pradilla, Jaime Fernandez, Xabi Lopez-Arostegui, Willy Hernangomez, Juancho Hernangomez, Rudy Fernandez, Usman Garuba, Joel Parra, Sebastian Saiz, Alberto Diaz, Dario Brizuela
Finland: Lauri Markannen, Sasu Salin, Mikael Jantunen, Edon Maxhuni, Shawn Huff, Miro Little, Henri Kantonen, Elias Valtonen, Alexander Madsen, Petteri Koponen, Ilari Seppal, Topias Palmi
THE JOURNEY OF THE TWO TEAMS
- Finland – Israel : 87-89
- Finland – Poland : 89-59
- Finland – Serbia : 70-100
- Finland – Czech Republic: 98-88
- Finland – Netherlands: 88-67
- Finland – Croatia: 94-86
- Spain – Bulgaria: 114-87
- Spain – Georgia: 90-64
- Spain – Belgium : 73-83
- Spain – Montenegro : 82-65
- Spain – Turkey: 72-69
- Spain – Lithuania: 102-94
It was said of them that they wouldn’t make it, that without their executives they couldn’t go far. Here they are again, those pesky but magnificent Spaniards, at the door of the last square. A last door to cross which is called Finland and which will not leave the path easy to anyone, not even to this swelling Rudy Fernandez. See you at 5:15 p.m. in Berlin for the start of the quarter-finals!