The France team faces Sweden this Friday evening (9 p.m.) in the semi-finals of the World Handball Championship.
Faced with numerous physical glitches since the preparation for this competition, coach Guillaume Gille will however be able to rely on Dika Mem, who has gradually returned since the last group match against Spain.
Still a little behind during the quarter against Germany, the lethal weapon of the Blues is expected to lead its troops to the gates of a seventh planetary coronation.
The Karabatic brothers, Valentin Porte, Elohim Prandi, not to mention the seven injured even before the start of the competition... The injuries are accumulating within the French hand team, but there may be a reason for hope to look in there.
The Blues, who face Sweden this Friday in the semi-finals of the World Cup, have managed to climb into the last four while their number 1 weapon, Dika Mem, has not really started yet.
Also injured after the first match against Poland, Barça's right-back only returned for the last match of the main round against Spain, before really finding his place against the Germans in quarters, Wednesday.
While Nikola Karabatic drags foot pain, it's time for the 25-year-old left-hander to definitively take on the role for which he has been destined for years, that of leader of the next generation.
Like his companions Nedim Remili (27) and Ludovic Fabregas (26), Dika Mem has been frequenting the Blues for a long time now.
As it should be within the royal dynasty of the Blues of the hand, he took his place little by little, hatched by the glorious elders Michaël Guigou, Luc Abalo or Cédric Sorhaindo.
World champion 2017 at 19, he is now one of those who have "their say and are listened to", boasts captain Luka Karabatic.
More than by words, however, it is by his volume of play and his extraordinary left arm that the Ile-de-France player has won.
Naturally and inevitably, like everywhere he has gone since a hand ball was stuck in his hands.
The story begins to be known.
At 13, Dika Mem, rather into football and basketball, had never set foot on a handball court before being dragged there by a friend, selected during a detection day in Val-d 'oise.
“We hadn't found any left-handers, so we asked the young people if they knew any who might be interested,” rewinds Fabrice Le Roy.
This is how the former coach of Sannois-Saint-Gratien, who participated in these detections, saw arriving during training following an already tall, sturdy kid, with an obvious talent in his hands, in addition to representing the enormous advantage of being left-handed.
“It's hard to describe like that, but you could immediately see his ease in the race, his jump.
And then he had technical know-how, in overflow for example, when he did not know the hand, says his first trainer.
He had intrinsic qualities that mark a coach.
»
"Mon-tru-them"
What follows is an express and extremely rare ascent to the highest French level.
In the space of three years, Dika Mem joined the hope center of Eaubonne, the French youth teams, the first team of Saint-Gratien in National 1 then that of Tremblay-en-France, in the first division.
“I had two lefties, including a Slovenian international.
He put them on the sidelines in a few games, ”notes David Christmann, the coach at the time.
Even more than the offensive qualities of the boy, it was his way of defending that had convinced the technician.
"He was mon-tru-them," he insists.
A real pearl.
»
And all that while according to the statements of the interested party himself, the hand had not hooked him more than that at the start.
“I never felt that at home, cuts Fabrice Le Roy.
But he's an intelligent kid, I think he must have felt at some point that it was in this sport that he could break through, that he had something more.
Being among the best, first at departmental level, then regionally, and so on, has effectively served as a driving force for young Dika.
A very mature teenager for his age, he discovered at a young age the sense of responsibility and the efforts to be made to achieve his goals.
Requested by all the biggest French clubs after having exploded at Saint-Gratien, he chose Tremblay for the assurance of playing, but also for the geographical proximity, which allowed him to continue to take care of his grandmother and his little brother.
World reference or not?
"He's a great guy, gold in the bar for a coach, assures the ex-coach of the Ile-de-France club, today sports director of Cesson.
He was stronger than everyone on the pitch, but above all, he was a kid who listened.
At that age, many are stupid.
He was super serious, very professional, always on time, in demand, in the exchange.
He stood out from all the others by his behavior.
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David Christmann would only have one criticism to make, that of leaving after only one year for Barcelona.
He would have liked to see him complete his training completely, at Tremblay or even in a more upscale club like Montpellier, before heading abroad.
“When you arrive at a big club, you learn a lot, but there is no time for the basics, he believes.
With us he had some shortcomings, normal for his age, but I still find them today when I see him play.
“For example, in his reading of the game and his “fine relations” with the interior or his winger.
"It will always lack that little something to be a reference at the world level", slice Christmann.
Catalan emblem
Fortunately for us, we still (normally) have ten years ahead of us before having to think about the mark that Mem will leave in the history of the game. For the moment, the guy (1.94m, 104 kg) is enjoying with Barça, where he arrived barely major and of which he is becoming an emblem.
Great craftsman of the last two campaigns - victorious - in the Champions League, appointed vice-captain this season, the Frenchman has extended until 2027 in this club where he says he feels "like at home".
In Catalonia, we salute its exemplary nature, its hard work and its constant progress.
“He is a player of an incredible level but whose potential remains enormous for a 25-year-old player, underlines by telephone his coach, Carlos Ortega.
He is always in demand, and that is very important for a club like Barça because when one of your stars shows so much desire and pleasure on a daily basis, the others have no choice but to follow. .
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The former Copenhagen and Hanover coach, who took over from the historic Xavi Pascual in 2021, knew the reputation joker.
What he saw when he arrived still blew him away.
Tactical decryption:
"For a defender, it's very complicated to defend on Dika because if you go up on him, he is superior in one-on-one and he can pass you, but if you stay behind to secure, he is able to send crazy shots [from afar].
In addition to jumping high, he arms very quickly with insane power.
He is a very complete player.
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Author of five goals against Poland before injuring his abdominals, the right-back of the Blues appeared a little inside against Germany on Wednesday (3 out of 7 in 42 minutes of play).
Don't worry, however, the meeting against Sweden, European champion and vice-world champion in title, at home in Stockholm, is the type to wake up the beast.
“I have no doubt, he is one of the best players in the world, for me it is clear”, launches his friend Yanis Lenne.
We can count on Dika Mem to see things big on the evening of his 100th in the blue jersey.
It will then be a question of carrying the Blues towards a historic seventh world title, but for once with him, everything in its time.
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