Dani Dujshebaev: Another handball great in the making

Dani Dujshebaev has all it takes to become a great player. He can play on the left back as well as in the centre. He can read the game, pass the ball and put his teammates in the best positions, but his shots from the distance are also very dangerous.

Many say he may be more of a born left back, but in the entire past season he was almost always deployed as playmaker. His response to this: “I feel good in both places. It doesn’t matter where I play. I want to be on the court!”

The son of the current Polish national team and Vive Tauron Kielce head coach, Talant Dujshebaev, and the brother of Vardar right back and Spanish international, Alex Dujshebaev, looks prone to become the next Dujshebaev handball great.  

Over the past years he has gone through the youth teams at FC Barcelona Lassa. In the 2015/16 season, he played in the Spanish club’s B team and regularly trained with the first team, also gaining some precious court time in the ASOBAL league.  

At the Youth World Championship 2015, he was Spain’s best scorer and named as best left wing into the tournament’s All-star team. In 2014, he won bronze with Spain at the Men’s 18 EHF EURO – and now he eyes the next medal at the Men’s 20 EHF EURO 2016 in Denmark.

The EURO is the place to shine

Spain were drawn to Group B alongside Slovenia and Iceland, the silver and bronze medallists at the Youth World Championship 2015, as well as Russia. The first game will be against Slovenia on 28 July.

“There are some differences between playing in an Under 18 and an Under 20 squad, but we have a strong team and we are ready to fight for one of the first positions at this championship. France will be the team that we have to beat,” says Dani Dusjhebaev.

The 19-year-old admits that he is counting down the days to the event’s start. “This (the Men’s 20 EHF EURO) is a big showcase. It is the right place to make the next step forward, to play your best and to help your team to get to the top.”

Once the EHF EURO has come to an end, Dujshebaev will take the next step in his career and join Valladolid who have just been promoted to the ASOBAL.  

“FC Barcelona are one of the best clubs in the world and it wasn’t easy to leave them, but in handball they are one of the strongest teams and it’s really complicated to get court time at the age of 19,” he says

“Now I need to play as much as I can and Valladolid is the perfect place for it.”

A Dujshebaev is never left alone

Being part of the Dujshebaev family has a lot of pros and some smaller cons for Dani Dujshebaev, who says that he considers it an “honour”.

“At the moment I don't have any problems, but maybe with the years to come, I will feel more pressure.

“My dad is a handball legend and he has the ability to be coach and father at same time, saying the correct words in every moment. My brother is a top player and he wants the best for me, we talk to each other frequently and he always gives me advice.

“It’s not time to think about it, because I need to keep on working to get to the level they are at, but it would be really nice to play in the same team someday.”

For this, Dani Dujshebaev continues to work hard. “You play like you train and therefore I’m always focused to give my best in all training sessions.”

In the past weeks, he has done everything to be ready for Men’s 20 EHF EURO. Gold is the objective. “You must work and dream to reach the maximum, and the maximum is gold, so we go for it,” he says.

Photos: RFEBM/Spanish Handball Federation

Previous articles published in the “Rising stars”-series ahead of the Men’s 20 EHF EURO

#1: Denmark’s Sebastian Augustinussen: He reaches for the stars – but at moderate pace

#2: Germany's Franz Semper: For a great player. height does not matter

#3: Omar Ingi Magnusson: The "new Olafur Stefansson" shines under the legend's guidance

#4: Aymeric Minne: The man to fulfill France’s high expectations

#5: Magnus Abelvik Rød is ready to take Norway far

#6: Patrik Ligetvari: Hungary’s young left back fires on all cylinders