Basketball | Alexander Madsen moved to the exotic dwarf state and immediately fell in love

Valencia

It was knownthat without Lauri from Markka Susijengi chasing an Olympic place needs new solvers. On Thursday, several such were found, when Finland came from 15 points behind to win by one point against Poland.

The biggest hero of the breathtaking thriller was Alexander Madsen. The 29-year-old player at the 4-5 position scored a handsome 18 points and sunk two free throws, with which Finland rose from a one-point loss to a victory of the same size.

The match was, for the most part, merciless wrestling that certainly left its mark on everyone’s body. Finland’s victory came through a fight, not so much with a beautiful game.

“There are maybe a few bruises on the body, but they have probably partially disappeared during the night,” says a cheerful Madsen at Susijeng’s fan meeting.

At least the late night match with its emotional roller coasters and bumps meant that the night’s sleep was moderate.

“Yes, it was quite an adrenaline rush. It got pretty late, but luckily today there were later training sessions, so I could still sleep in the morning.”

Next Finland will face host country Spain in the semifinals of the qualifiers. The player of several opponents has become familiar to Madsen during the spring, as the player from Valkeland moved from VEF Riga to the Spanish ACB league at the end of last year.

A move to Europe’s best league was, of course, an offer Madsen couldn’t refuse. However, he did not move to Spain, but to Andorra, on the border between Spain and France. The basketball pride of the mountainous dwarf state plays in the Spanish premier league.

“We fell out of the Champions League with Riga, and there was an option in my contract that I could leave if that happened. The club would have liked to keep me, but the budget wasn’t quite enough,” Madsen explains the reasons for the transfer.

“Not many days passed when Andorra showed interest. They had an injured player that I went to patch up. It was easy to join the club, there was a positive attitude. I only saw opportunities in the situation, and it got off to a good start.”

Madsen filled his role nicely, although the move from the Latvian and Estonian joint league to Spain was a huge leap. From the end of the season, when the injured returned to the lineup, the responsibility decreased a bit, but Madsen had a great time in Andorra.

“It was a pretty cool place in a valley at a thousand meters altitude. Mestana is a great, really clean place. Really professional organization and the framework was fine. Such a smaller place was perfect for such a boy from a small village.”

Madsen also had a great time on the parquet in the rock-hard series in Spain.

“Great series. Of course, the rule that if the opponent loses in their own end of the field, they can open directly without giving the ball to the referee in between, brought a bit of its own dimension to that hustle. It was a great experience and I would love to continue in the ACB league if possible.”

Although Andorra receives a lot of praise from Madsen, it does not reach the top spot in the travelogue’s career residences. Madsen, who represented VEF Riga for a total of three and a half seasons, had time to like the capital of Latvia in that time.

“Of all the things I’ve experienced in my career, my favorite place to live is probably Riga, where I was happy for a long time. There, the people and the organization somehow had a similar mentality. And of course it was close to home Finland. It was good to be there.”

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Yes, my favorite place to live is probably Riga, where I was happy for a long time.

Wolf gang is in a situation in the Olympic qualifiers where it needs to win two games to qualify for the Paris Olympics. Spain should be knocked out first, followed by the winner of the Bahamas-Lebanon match in the final.

Madsen is looking forward to facing the reigning European champion.

“We will face really tough players. Spain is always dangerous, has won prestigious competitions and seems to be in the top two in the world ranking. That game won’t be easy,” Madsen praises the opponent.

“We have to adjust our play a bit according to the opponent”, let’s see what’s in the bag of goodies.

Madsen also has the remedies for how Spain falls.

“We have to be able to maintain our own tempo, that’s probably our biggest weapon. We can’t go to that half court attack and walk the ball up.”

Finland will meet Spain in the semifinal match of the qualifying tournament on Saturday at 9:30 p.m.