Dika Mem is not the type to disappear in the “money time”, this period when everything is decided at the end of the match. “I have no right to hide”is also one of the favorite expressions of the young handball player (24 years old).
Wednesday, January 26, while the Blues stuttered their game against the B team of Denmark, it was he who sounded the revolt in the last quarter of an hour of the meeting. His shots allowed the France team to win on the wire (30-29) and qualify in extremis for the semi-finals of the Euro, where they face Sweden, Friday, January 28.
The performance is all the more remarkable as Dika Mem had a complicated start to the match, like the whole of the French team, overwhelmed by the speed of the Danish game. His first period, with only one successful shot out of six attempts and easy loss of balls, was even calamitous. But, after half-time, the one who plays as a right-back in a club, in Barcelona, took on the costume of the savior, shooting 7 out of 9 and scoring the last two goals of the match, synonymous with equalizer then victory.
“He showed that he was able to come back in a game and be decisive when he was in check. Even when he is not confident, he responds present. It is the mark of the greats”underlines Nikola Karabatic, the dean of the Blues. “He’s still a young player, but he’s already a leader”describes Guillaume Gille, the coach of the France team, in which Dika Mem started when he was only 19 years old.
“He is a complete player, who defends, who runs, with a rare quality in shots from nine meters. It continues to grow.”
An already thick track record
Speaking of thickness, the record of the person concerned, born in Paris to a Cameroonian father and a Reunionese mother, who was more passionate about football and basketball when he was young, already has that of a veteran .
With the national team, he was world champion in 2017 and Olympic champion in Tokyo in the summer of 2021. In club, with Barcelona where he has been playing since 2017, he won the 2021 Champions League (also finishing second top scorer with 93 goals), a title to which must be added five Spanish championships and five King’s Cups. Only still missing a gold medal at the Euro.
The leaders of Barcelona (…) do not intend to let go
Despite these successes, Dika Mem keeps a cool head. “I haven’t matured yet”, he believes. That’s why it’s getting all the attention. Barcelona leaders, who consider him an indispensable player, do not intend to let go of him and would like to extend his contract, which will expire in June 2024.
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