PARIS (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers) - Nothing has made Andrew Albicy feel prouder in his career than putting on the France shirt and it's something he's eager to do in the World Cup Qualifiers coming up against Belgium and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

France will play in Antwerp on November 24 and then host Bosnia and Herzegovina three days later in Rouen.

The 27-year-old Albicy, who made his senior team debut at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2010 in Turkey, has spoken to FIBA.basketball.

How did playing with France boost your career?
It helped me gain experience at the highest level. I was pretty young (20 years old) when I first played for the national team at senior level and that helped me see and experience what the highest level of competition is. I want to keep playing at this level and for as long as I can.

Compare the emotions you have when playing for France versus playing for a club.
It's completely different. You have more pressure and you represent an entire country, not just a city. The support surrounding us is going to be very important, it's different than what you have with your club. Every player wants to represent their country, so it is total excitement. When you play for the national team, everyone is behind you, the arenas are always packed and the expectations are very high. It's the same with the big clubs but expectations with the national team are always the same, like winning medals and titles, for example. I went to the EuroBasket games in Lille in 2015 and it was incredible. The crowd was huge, hearing the national anthem sung 'A cappella'. Living that kind of experience for a player is amazing; it gives you more motivation and pushes you to give everything on the court.

Albicy experienced first-hand the record crowds at EuroBasket 2015 in Lille

What's your best memory of playing for the national team?
The best one I have is when I had my first cap against Spain (Albicy played 26 minutes and scored 13 points in a 72-66 France win on August 28, 2010). I had a good game and we won that game, so yes, that is my best memory with the senior national team so far.

What was your reaction upon hearing you'd be in the pool of players that coach Vincent Collet would consider for the France team to face Belgium and Bosnia and Herzegovina?
The possibility of being in the team is very exciting. I hope I'll be on the final roster to help France qualify for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019. It's been a while since I last played for the national team so that would be so great. I'll give my best to help the team qualify for the competition in China and I would like, like all of the guys in the pool, to compete with the national jersey on.

France are going to play their first home game of the qualifiers against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Rouen. What will that atmosphere be like?
First, the arena is very nice. I have played there and it's a great place to play basketball. I know we will have a lot of support and that the arena is going to be packed because all of us, the players and the fans, want to qualify for the World Cup. It's going to be great, a bit like the friendly games when we have always a lot of fans supporting us. Every time this happens, every arena is at its maximum capacity, and I think that it would be the same for the game in Rouen. I am looking forward to this.

"WHEN YOU PLAY FOR THE NATIONAL TEAM, EVERYONE IS BEHIND YOU, THE ARENAS ARE ALWAYS PACKED AND THE EXPECTATIONS ARE VERY HIGH." Albicy

French fans will get a chance to see the highly-rated Dzanan Musa when they take on Bosnia and Herzegovina.
I am not going to be the one guarding him but he's a very talented young prospect. He has been showing great things the last couple of years and he's going to keep improving in the future. He's most likely going to be the leader of their team, so we'll need to stop him and defend well against him. I'm confident about the defensive talent of our team, so it won't be a problem.

Against Bosnia and Herzegovina, France will look to stop Musa, who averaged 22.8 points per game in this past summer's FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Pre-Qualifiers 

What about the game away to Belgium?
I don't know what to expect from them. The teams and the rosters are going to be different to what we've been used to so far, and even us, we don't know which roster we are going to have. In one game, every team can win. We will need to play at our best level as we won't have that much time to get ready for those games. By playing as a team and hard, I think we can win those games.

Looking ahead to the national team's next fixtures, in February 2018, the two games will both be on French soil, in Strasbourg and Nancy. Is there any city that you'd like to play in?
Yes, in the north of France. I'd like to play there as I played three years in this area of France. I know the crowds there are very supportive and noisy, as people noticed in Lille during EuroBasket 2015. If we could play there, that would be amazing. Wherever we play, I'd be happy as we're going to play in front of supportive and noisy fans everywhere at home.

FIBA