Macedonians Hold Their Breath for Basketball Semi-Final

Pero Antic after the quarterfinals victory | Photo by Fonet

Hundreds of Macedonian fans will travel to Lithuania to support the country’s players at the Kaunas Arena at the Friday night play-off and the government has splashed out for a second time on free tickets for fans.

A lottery was held on Macedonian State TV last night and 100 citizens were named to watch the most important basketball game in Macedonia’s history.

The government announced that members of the players’ family, ex-basketball players, representatives of sport federations and fans groups were among passengers destined for Kaunas. 

Excitement has been mounting ever since Macedonia, which started out in the tournament as the underdog, found itself on a winning streak of six games in a row out of eight matches.  The last one was the biggest surprise of them all.

Celebrations on main Skopje square | Photo by Robert Atanasovski

On Wednesday, the host team Lithuania was beaten by a three-pointer in the last seconds of the game (67:65) and Macedonia entered the best four teams in Europe, securing a place in next year's Olympics qualifier tournament. 

Now the hopes are set high. Macedonians are aware of the force of the Spain but they think everything is possible.

"Spain is favourite for the gold here. However most important for us is to concentrate on our game, to play with our heart and I think we are close to winning a medal. We are not afraid of anybody, we will play our game and we will see what will happen," team player Vlado Ilievski said before the semifinal match.

Fans celebrating the victory | Photo by Robert Atanasovski

Macedonia has never been so close to winning a medal at a European or World Championship in any sport. For a medal in Lithuania it needs one win in the next two games either against Spain or in the match for the third place.

Thousands poured into the streets and squares in dozens of Macedonian cities to celebrate the win.

Although the tournament is still on, President Gorgje Ivanov has already honoured the players. On Monday, he issued a decree awarding the players and team support staff with a medal.

Macedonia's biggest fans | Photo by Robert Atanasovski

“The President decided to honour the Macedonian National team for its great results at international level. They have made an outstanding contribution to the development and popularization of this sport and to the affirmation of the Republic of Macedonia in the world," his office said.

Several days earlier the government rewarded the players with €3,000 each for their results so far and pledged additional €5,000 if they succeed in positioning themselves among the top six teams on the Championship .