Gritty and ambitious Dinamo “are living the dream”

For their previous three seasons in the VELUX EHF Champions League, Dinamo Bucuresti had only five wins to show from 26 games.

This time, however, everything looks different. The spirits are up, a family has been born, bonds have been forged, and the fans are relentless in helping their favourites put up a show on their home court.

The results? Better than ever. Five wins from the first seven games of the season put Dinamo in the shared lead of Group D, alongside Orlen Wisla Plock, with a huge chance to proceed to the group phase knockout.

It would not be only the first time that Dinamo qualified, but the first time for any team from Romania.

“We had our share of trouble”

Dinamo’s success comes down to good planning, excellent scouting on the transfer market, and a little bit of luck.

Last season was a handful for the Romanian side, who were lingering on the eighth place in the domestic league before 50-year-old Constantin Stefan took over as their coach.

It was a bumpy ride, but the ‘Red Dogs’ ultimately snatched the title on their biggest rivals’ court, with a special win against Steaua in the third match of the final.

Five months later, Dinamo are looking better than ever and are thinking big.

“We have had our share of trouble, when we played in other cities between 2009 and 2012,” says team manager Ovidiu Semen, referring to the time when Dinamo had to move to Calarasi, Buzau and Brasov for financial reasons. “Thankfully, that period is over and everything is good now and we can only focus on handball.”

A big, happy family

Indeed, Dinamo have won the Romanian league in the past three seasons, and they are now ready for a lengthy European season.

Home wins against Wisla Plock, Ademar Leon or Elverum have been the backbone of the Romanian side’s resurgence after the team finished bottom of their group last season. But the ‘Red Dogs’ also applied pressure on their opponents in away games and went neck and neck with their rivals.

“There are still three games to be played, so we need to be focused,” Semen says. “But the difference is that we are now a better team. The players are acting like a family and that is the most important thing.”

Acting like a family is certainly not usual for a Romanian side, more so for a team that boasts players from seven different countries, including Tunisia, Iran, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Russia.

“We talk a lot, we understand each other and we play as a team,” says Dinamo coach Stefan. “That is the secret, if there can be something like a secret to our run. The Romanian players helped the foreign players settle in and that was crucial.”

Good scouting is key for performances

But there is more to the Romanian side than unity and cohesion. It is all about good scouting and ushering in players that are unexperienced, yet bringing a lot of potential to the squad.

It happened two seasons ago, when Dinamo signed two underrated Iranian brothers, Sajad and Allahkaram Esteki. A left back with a strong shot, Sajad Esteki went on and to score 68 goals that season, despite playing only nine games.

This time, the Romanian champions took a different path and signed three Tunisian players: right back Amine Bannour, playmaker Kamel Alouini and goalkeeper Makrem Missaoui.

“Playing in the European top competition surely enhances our chances to bring in top talent. The players surely relinquish the chance to have such games under their belts, so we must consider ourselves lucky,” says Stefan.

While Missaoui and Alouini definitely played their part in Dinamo’s excellent run, it was Bannour who stole the show, scoring 46 goals in the first seven rounds, only two shy of Nico Rönnberg, the top scorer in the competition.

“There is a bit of luck involved, but we surely like to do our homework regarding transfers. We saw Bannour in a friendly tournament in France and we liked his style, and here he is,” team manager Semen says.

“We knew our line player, Seyed Mousavi, from Veszprém and then everything clicked when we brought in the Esteki brothers two years ago. It all comes down to good planning,” Semen adds.

“Few teams can stop us”

Is this a dream scenario for Dinamo? The Romanian champions’ long serving team manager believes so.

“This is the biggest dream yet we are living in handball, and we hope to have the strength to progress to the next phase,” Semen says. “When the team was in turmoil, we were praying to have the sun shine on our street too and this is it.”

So, what’s next for the Romanian side? The ambitions are high and do not stop here. Montpellier’s success last season showed that every team can pump up their hopes for a huge result.

“We are not there, that is clear, but we saw what Skjern did against Veszprém,” says Semen, referring to the Danish side’s surprise win in the Last 16 of last season.

“If we have a good day, there are very few teams that can stop us on our home court in Bucharest. That should be clear,” he says. “It is not a cocky statement, but we showed what we are made of.”