Luxembourg’s women’s national team will be in action this week with 2 home games (on Thursday and Sunday) at the Coque in Kirchberg. Thanks to an outstanding first FIBA window and 2 victories, Luxembourg now has a realistic chance to qualify for the European Championship 2025.
„We have a historical opportunity in the next two windows » says Mariusz Dziurdzia. „We started the qualification with 2 victories after we never won more than one game in a previous qualifications. Now, the stakes are high and we embrace the opportunity. If you are a basketball fan in Luxembourg, you are allowed to dream in this situation. However, we got a long way to go and we have 2 big home games in front of us this week. I hope that the fans will be there to support our team, they really deserve every possible support. Hopefully, a lot of youth players will be in the gym to watch us play. »
While the preparation is complicated and multiple players are dealing with injuries, coach Dziurdzia notes that the atmosphere within the team is excellent: „We are in a great mood because the situation is special for our nation and we are looking forward to the challenge. We want to win games in front of our home crowd and keep making noise in this qualification. Unfortuntaley some players are injured which limits the number of players at practice but on Monday we should be complete with the players from abroad joining the team. »
On Thursday, Luxembourg will face Montenegro, co-leader of the group, in a key game. The winner of this game takes the role of the favorite to qualify directly for the European Championship. „Montenegro is the favorite in this game, but we want to protect our home court. The opponent has multiple high level players on its roster and they clearly play with a lot of confidence. » Montenegro is ranked number 22 in the FIBA world ranking and number 12 in Europe. Luxembourg ranks 26th in Europe and 57th in the world.
On Sunday, Luxembourg will face Switzerland and is looking to beat the opponent one more time in this qualification. „Switzerland is a team that is playing on one level with us, so that the ambition is clearly to win this game. They have added strong players but we have a strong roster too. » Switzerland ranks 31st in Europe and 65th in the world.
Ehis Etute started her studies at Oregon this year, she will travel to Luxembourg and help team Luxembourg in this qualification. For the international basketball federation FIBA, Ehis is one of 10 players to watch in this qualifiers. Her younger sister Isi is also part of the team: „Isi is 16 years old and needs to learn a lot. In the Enovos League, she can average a double double in nearly every game. We will see how much she will be able to help us in this window. »
Anne Simon started her professional career in Italy this season, it will be thrilling to see how she will improve the team. For the first time in a FIBA game, Amanda Cahill will be available for Luxembourg. Her overall game will help Luxembourg become a much more dangerous team. There are some concerns on the point guard position because Catherine Mreches is not available. „We have had this situation before, other players need to step up on the point guard position. Anne Simon can play that position, Lisy Hetting can play point guard too so that we will work this out. »
Coach Dziurdzia adds a quote by Dirk Nowitzki to underline the historical opportunity: „As Dirk Nowitzki used to say: All dreams are crazy until you make them true. » Be there to support our national team in Kirchberg!
The roster of team Luxembourg
Ehis Etute, Isi Etute, Anne Simon, Lisy Hetting, Magaly Meynadier, Svenia Nurenberg, Lena Mersch, Mandy Geniets, Cathrin Wolff, Isa Hämäläinen, Laurie Irthum, Charlie Bidinger, Amanda Cahill, Esmeralda Skrijeli
Note: 12 of the 14 players will play in each game
Everything you need to know about the women’s qualifiers –> Everything you need to know about the women’s qualifiers
Ticket presale:
November 7th at 19:00: Luxembourg – Montenegro –> Luxembourg – Montenegro ticket presale
November 10th at 17:00: Luxembourg – Switzerland –> Luxembourg – Switzerland ticket presale
