Agim Fagu dares "Mister Forty-Eight"!

1 February 2021

1344

"The forty-eighth lord!" It was the headline of "Corriere della Sera" one day after the Partizani – Oransoda basketball match. The title expresses exactly what happened during the evening of December 18, 1968, when an international basketball match was turned into a 40-minute show with only one protagonist! Dawn Fagu! That winter evening in Tirana was such a beautiful sporting event that it crosses the limits of the unbelievable and flirts with the miraculous! Against Oransoda, the Champions Cup in men's basketball. Partizan of Little Albania, for the first time in an international match. In front of him, the team that would later be crowned European Champion, Oransoda of Italy. In its composition, two Americans, two Argentines and the star of Italy in basketball, Rekalkate. We are far from three points in basketball and the games could end in a draw. It's a David versus Goliath sports duel! That night, the spectators were so numerous that they almost climbed over each other. The size of the opponent did not provide premises for a positive result. The experience of Partizan at the international level was…zero! People tried with all the strength of their souls… and of their larynxes, they gave courage to the team and themselves by shouting "Partizani" in chorus! On one side of the floor, there was a young boy, who had so much courage that no one counted against him in that sport. Partizan had its captain that night, at a very young age, only 1.87 tall, but fast and dribbling that destroyed every defense, frighteningly accurate in shooting from every point of the field and perfect in assisting, when the ball weighs a lot! Fagu, that night, in front of the European champions, gave such a recital that would make Dražen Petrović or Nikos Galis twenty years later, their eyes widen in amazement! Because… 48 points in a match where the difference between the teams is farther from the south than the north and, the three point system did not exist, it sounds more fantastic than the truth! That match ended in a draw 73 – 73. Il mister quarantotto! After that match, Agim Fagu quite rightly turned into a living legend! In fact, what happened that night and after, were not legends but the truth. Sports fans called him "Moxart" or "Straus" of basketball! The prestigious "Corriere della sera" gives the match the title "Forty-eighth gentleman" (the points he scored in that match). FIBA places it in the top five. Its president, William Jones, gave him a small badge as a sign of happiness, which he used to give only to high-class players! More than "Partizan" of Tirana, the surprise was called Agim Fagu! Oransoda offered 100 million lire for him. No one spent more time in Europe. In Italian football, the most expensive cost 300 million. Agim Fagu is even today the most brilliant athlete of Albania in personal rank. Far from the others, the most highly rated sports titles of the Albanian state. That evening of December 13, 1968, he was only 21 years old! __________ Sports Vision / Champions Hour