Denmark leads Finland in the European basketball qualifiers after the opening period 58–42.
Lassi Tuovi (in a collared shirt) tries to wake up Susijeng to fight for victory. PDO
In sports, it is really difficult to measure the importance of contribution.
But everyone agrees that it is huge.
At least it was clearly visible in Susijengi’s performance in the opening period of the EC qualifying home opener against Denmark. In the latest Fiba ranking list, Finland is rated as the 20th best men’s national team in the world, while the Juts are only far behind in 58th place.
But while Susijengi has already secured its place in the summer 2025 EC tournament as the tournament host, Denmark is trying to squeeze into the top two in the group and get in for the first time since 1955.
The 70-year wait has made Denmark seriously invest in basketball and it shows on the floor. Susijengi was particularly bullied by Virtus Bologna’s defender Gabriel “Ife” Lundberg.
The dangerousness of Juti, who scored 16 points in the opening period, certainly did not surprise anyone in the home team’s camp, because the head coach Lassi Tuovi also works as Bologna’s coach.
But when Denmark’s 208 long center Kevin Larsen sunk a three-pointer and gave his team a 40–30 lead, Tuovi had to wake up his team already in the second overtime.
That didn’t help either. At the end of the opening half, the guests roared to a 58–42 lead.
The taste of urgency
Finland lost on Friday in the opening of the European Championship qualification in Belgard, but then it was the World Cup finalist Serbia. In that match, Susijeng ran out of snacks in the third period.
Now there seems to be no snacks in the backpack at all. In addition to emergency throwing solutions, the home team succumbed to easy ball losses.
Finland’s best scorer in the opening period was Edon Maxhuni at eight. In addition to Lundberg (16) from Denmark, Larsen (15) and Mads Sturup (10).