 Dinart: "We knew we could go all the way every year"
Recently named as part of the EHF Champions League Ultimate Selection, Didier Dinart, the French defensive specialist, has spent his whole career turning his abrasive defence into an art.
Born in 1977 in Guadeloupe, he came to France aged 15. Initially playing on both sides of the court, it was when he transferred to Montpellier in 1996 that Patrice Canayer decided to turn him into a full-time defender.
"All my previous coaches thought I could attack well, because I was tall and big. But I was slow as hell, so asking me only to defend was a pretty good idea," Dinart admits.
It was there, that he had his first encounter with the EHF Champions League, and after multiple attempts, he was part of the victorious Montpellier team to win it in 2003, along with national teammates Thierry Omeyer, Mickael Guigou and Jerome Fernandez.
"To win a Champions League was one of the things I wanted to achieve when I started my career. Of course the first one with Montpellier has a special taste, because we had been together as a squad for a while and we won it at home, in such a special fashion," recalls the 36-year-old.
But right after winning this title, "the rock", as many French players call him, decided to go and try the Spanish league, with a team seen as one of the best on the continent at the time, Ciudad Real.
He stayed there for nine years and won three more EHF Champions League title and reached the final a further three times.
"We had such an extremely talented team. In every position we had two or three international stars.
“I felt really appreciated while playing in Spain, my position on the court was really important and the fans loved me! Every year we knew we had the potential to go all the way in the Champions League and that was just an amazing feeling," recalls Dinart.
After two lost finals, Didier Dinart made a final move to come back to France and joined PSG.
In his last year before retirement, his main objective was to qualify the Parisian team for next season's VELUX EHF Champions League.
"Yes I want to help this bunch of guys to move a step higher, and then I'll go, I don't want to play one season too long," concludes the best defender in the 20-year history of the EHF Champions League.
TEXT: Kevin Domas / cor
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