Since the start of the competition, the right-back has continued to gain strength. To the point of establishing itself as the main asset of the France team in the quarter-finals against Hungary on Wednesday?
What if this World Cup was the summary, so far, of Dika Mem’s career in the France team? Namely, after a discreet start, a slow but inexorable rise in power to reach the heights. Against Norway, at the opening of the competition, the right-back had indeed played backwards, missing all his attempts. But gradually, the result was better and better, until one last particularly successful match against Portugal (5 of 7 shooting).
“I heard that I did not enter this World Cup well, or that I did not enter until the match against Iceland. Everyone is free to think so. “
Dika mem
An evolution that the main interested party took the time to analyze before challenging Hungary, this Wednesday, in the quarter-finals (8:30 p.m.). “I heard that I did not enter this World Cup well, or that I did not enter until the match against Iceland. Everyone is free to think so. It is true that against Norway, I started badly with a 0 of 4 shooting. But if we stop only on this statistic, it’s a shame because I think I did my job. Still, after that match, I always answered present when I was called. In the France team, there are a lot of good right-backs and I don’t play as much as in a club. I can’t do 10 out of 10 in 15 minutes. But with the coach, I think we found a way to shoot really well. Little by little, it is taking shape nicely and everyone knows what they are dealing with. Me like my partners, I increase my level crescendo and we must continue to do so to reach the end of this World Cup. “
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An opinion shared by his coach, Guillaume Gille, who explained about him: “He is in a competition in which, indeed, he timidly entered the first matches. But as the matches followed, he found his rhythm. He is someone who needs to find his rhythm between games and when he is able to express his full potential, he can do everything: run, shoot from distance, defend … And in this case, obviously , he makes a great contribution to collective performance. ” A quantified contribution, already, with his 23 goals and 15 assists, which makes him the second most decisive player of the Blues behind center-half Kentin Mahé. But not only so much his influence is proving to be important in the ability of the France team to produce fast play, to improve his so far crumbly transition game, not to mention the defensive aspect where the Barcelona player is. proves valuable.
The consequences of the Champions League Final Four
His delay in igniting at the start of the World Cup can also be seen as a direct consequence of his participation in the Final Four of the Champions League at the end of December, during which he failed with the Blaugrana club in the final against Kiel (28-33). “It’s true that the Final Four was tough physically and mentally,” he explains. For my part, with my team, we were on the verge of winning the competition and it did not happen. It was hard to digest, even though it’s part of the sport and I don’t want to stay 100 years on a loss. Afterwards, the staff of the France team took good care of us, with progressive work on the physical level. They took care of me and for my part, I had to get back into it quickly. ” This therefore required two matches before seeing him approach in selection the level he has in club. A level which should allow him, in the short term, to establish himself definitively as one of the leaders of this post-Experts team in France.
Came to handball quite late
A team he joined for the first time on tiptoe, during the 2017 World Cup to replace a Luka Karabatic affected during the competition. But at only 19 years old, Mem was mainly there to learn, discover and, all the same, clinch the first world title of his young career in the A, after having done it in the youth in 2015. An express rise for a young man who did not come to handball until late. As a child, Mem imagined himself more on a football field than in a handball gymnasium. Even basketball, played by his two older brothers, seemed to have a head start. Until the age of 13 and a happy combination of circumstances when, accompanying a friend to a detection session in the Val d’Oise, he developed a passion for the discipline. Since then, no doubt encouraged by a rare talent, Mem has never deviated from his path again …
To the point of becoming, therefore, one of the main offensive assets of his Blues that he dreams of bringing back to the top since, since this inaugural world gold in 2017, he had to “be content” with two bronze medals, one European in 2018 and a world in 2019. All the more so now that France is preparing to live a quarter-final in Egypt, with its 6 victories in as many matches. “Obviously, when you get to this stage of the competition, you think about going to the end,” he concedes. There is this desire to go to the final first. We come from far away, not many people believed in us but we have worked a lot since December 27th. We really tried to improve as a group. But it is clear that our goal is to go to the end and have no regrets. ”
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