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By:
Tahir Sopi
- June 30, 2022 11:00
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The selector of Kosovo in men's basketball, Christos Marmarinos, has accepted the big problems he has in the team before the duel with the representative of Denmark. Kosovo trained in Naestved on Wednesday, while on Thursday they face Denmark in the first pre-qualifying phase for "Eurobasket 2025". This match starts at 19:00 and belongs to Group C. And in the last training, Marmarino had only ten basketball players available, as Meriton Ismaili did not train at all and it is likely that he will not be able to help Kosovo against Denmark.
Due to injuries, neither Valon Bunjaku nor Mikaile Tmushiq have traveled with Kosovo. Meanwhile, Gëzim Morina, who has been training, is also facing an injury. Erjon Kastrati has not gathered at all due to a physical discomfort. Thus, Kosovo will have significant absences for the last match of the first round of pre-qualifications for Eurobasket 2025. On Tuesday, Kosovo started in Denmark with 11 basketball players, while Marmarino did not invite the naturalized Americans for this match.
Due to the large absences due to injuries, Marmarinos hopes for a good performance from Kosovo against Denmark, although he has admitted that it will be very difficult.
"We have a lot of problems, but I expect us to fight until the end against Denmark. In the last training, we barely had ten players, and of them only nine are healthy. Also, we have some young players who have just started playing with the national team and it will be difficult. However, we will give our best and I hope to show a good performance", Marmarinos told KOHEN on Wednesday.
Kosovo is unlikely to advance to the second stage of these pre-qualifications through the second position in the group. Within Group C, Kosovo has lost two matches with Norway, while it has defeated Denmark at home with the numbers 78:73. Denmark has two more games until the end of the first stage and is considered the favorite for the first place in the group, which is held by Norway, with two wins and one loss in three games played.
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Kosovo has one win and two losses, while Denmark has one win and one loss. The victory is against Norway, which they face in the last match, which will be played on July 3.
"Kosovo's basketball players held their first training session in Denmark on Wednesday. Earlier, they trained intensively in Pristina, to be as ready as possible for this very important challenge.
In training, the basketball players gave their best, while the only one who did not train was Meriton Ismaili, due to injury, but it is hoped that he will be ready for the match", wrote the Basketball Federation of Kosovo (FBK).
Against Denmark, two basketball players will debut in Kosovo. It is about the defender Amin Hot, who has received the citizenship of Kosovo, and Ardit Pepaj, who has played for the new generations. Last season, Hot was among the most distinguished players at Trepça, while Pepaj was part of Golden Eagle Yllit. FBK has announced that both are ready to debut with the Kosovo jersey. And this has been confirmed by Hot.
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On Saturday, Kosovo starts preparations for the pre-qualifications of "Eurobasket 2025"
"Of course, the goal is to win, but it won't be easy. The important thing is to show a good game, to engage, not giving up for a moment", he said.
On June 17, Kosovo started preparations for the match against Denmark, and selector Marmarinos had invited 14 basketball players to the list, which two days before the duel was reduced to 11 players.
