[Basket féminin] The truth of the day for Luxembourgers

AFTER THE 2nd EURO-2025 QUALIFIERS WINDOW A masterclass against Montenegro, a purge against Switzerland, the Luxembourgers showed two very different faces in three days.

From the dream…

“Be careful, the match against Switzerland will be much more complicated!” It’s not for lack of warning. But it is clear that between Thursday against Montenegro and Sunday, against Switzerland, there were two rooms, two atmospheres. Against the ogre of the Balkans, Magaly Meynadier and her teammates simply produced the perfect match. Or almost.

An intractable defense (they limited the 12^e European nation under 50 pts), an attack which is going well with a certain success at three points (8/25), solidarity at all times, each girl who applies the instructions to the letter. And in the end, an overwhelming success that shocked Europe.

…to the nightmare

What can be a little too confident about? Even if the players deny it, they have completely missed the point against the Helvetians. Were they overwhelmed by the stakes? We remind you, after three victories in three matches, a fourth brought them closer to a historic qualification for the Euro before the last two meetings in February.

In any case, the spectacle offered three days later in front of 1,300 spectators was unfortunately sad: “It’s sad. We didn’t show a good picture. It’s a shame, because we didn’t deserve that,” explained captain Magaly Meynadier, clearly disappointed after the basketball mess we witnessed on Sunday (44-59).

“Nothing worked.” This is, in essence, what we saw against the Swiss. While the latter had lost their first two matches, they had completely revived in Bosnia on Thursday (62-81) and arrived like starving people at the Coque. For them, it was already a match do or die, because in the event of defeat, they said goodbye to the Euro.

Dominated in all areas

Perhaps the Luxembourgers unconsciously played the match in their heads before doing it on the floor. In any case, from the start of the match, apart from a good 8-3 start, we saw that the match would not be the same as against Montenegro. Sparkling three days earlier for her first appearance in the selection with 32 pts, Amanda Cahill was perfectly mastered this time: “They were very well prepared. Amanda did not have a single good shooting position,” said Magaly Meynadier.

But she wasn’t the only one to miss out. It’s simple, no one was up to par. Anne Simon harvested (9 pts at 4/15 and 0/7 at three points, 1 throw out of 4), Magaly Meynadier (2 pts at 1/12) and the replacements were transparent (4 pts).

The Ethis Etute thinning… Then the wound

Ultimately, only Ehis Etute took responsibility. The young interior of the Oregon Ducks was the only one to create danger, to be respected in a racket where the Helvetians reigned supreme, particularly in terms of offensive rebounds, an area in which Lin Schwarz shone brightly (14 rebounds including 7 offensive).

But it was said that this Sunday would be a dark day. And while Luxembourg finally managed to get back in front at the end of the third quarter (37-35 on an interception concluded by Magaly Meynadier), they saw their best player (14 pts, 14 rebounds) leave their teammates, victim of a sprained leg. the ankle.

Without their best weapon, the Grand Ducal players then threw away their last strength to come back one last time (44-44, 35^e). But they gave in by absorbing an avalanche of long-range missiles and ending their meeting with an ugly 0-15. In the end, the Swiss logically won.

A single figure to illustrate the victory: the visitors finished 11/33 at three points, against an apocalyptic 1/19 for the Luxembourgers. Totally harmless from a distance, uninspired in defense, not successful in attack. They really went from dream to nightmare.

Has the dream gone?

Mathematically no. As we recall, there are eight groups affected by these qualifications (nine including the one made up of the four nations already qualified as organizers of the final phase). The first in each group as well as the four best runners-up are qualified.

At present, while there is a final window with two matches remaining, Luxembourg still occupies first place in Group H with 7 pts, the same as Montenegro, where it travels on the last day, and a small point ahead of Switzerland who, thanks to their big victory, would move ahead of Mariusz Dziurdzia’s players in the event of a tie in the ranking.

While the Swiss will host Montenegro twice, then Bosnia, the Luxembourgers will be out and about, in Bosnia on February 6 then in Montenegro three days later: “We absolutely have to win at least one match,” explained the coach. national. At the moment, even if Luxembourg is first, we can look at the situation of the best runners-up. And we see that there are only three teams which have 7 pts in second position.

So, for the moment, Luxembourg, which will have at least 9 pts at the end of the qualification period, is qualified. A victory in Bosnia would force Switzerland to win its two matches to move ahead and would ensure the Grand Ducal players have at least 10 pts. Which would be the assurance of experiencing something historic.

So, this window, good or bad operation?

“Perhaps once the disappointment has passed, in two or three days, we will be able to say to ourselves that we managed to win one of the two matches, which was the objective, to continue to believe in our dream,” concluded Mariusz Dziurdzia on Sunday. Indeed, the victory against Montenegro was not specifically planned in the first place.

If we had told the technician that he would win one of the two matches, he would certainly have signed. However, after beating the Montenegrin ogre, it is true that the defeat – especially in this way – against Switzerland is a bit of a stain. So, good or bad operation? Finally, we will have the answer in three months!