Nahi's game: “I have always seen myself as the Swiss Army knife of the team”

It is almost 10 years ago, but Dylan Nahi’s name is still in the record books: the youngest player ever at the EHF FINAL4 at 17, the youngest ever to ever play — and score — for the France national team, also at 17. Add to that the fact that he played his first game with Paris Saint-Germain at only 15, and you will easily understand that Dylan Nahi is a phenomenon.

“When I watch some footage from this era, I have a laugh, because I look so young. I still had my glasses on, I was this kid in the middle of all these men, that was an experience,” Nahi smiles, before giving an insight on what it brought him to play that early in the big world.

“It taught me not to take anything for granted. When you are that high that early, it’s easy to lose focus and think that you have made it. But you have not, in fact, this is just the beginning of the road. Thankfully, I had the right people surrounding me to put me back on track.”

While the Men’s EHF EURO 2024 winner with France has gained a lot of maturity since and made some experiences along the way, some things have remained the same. Especially the fact that Dylan Nahi remains an exceptional all-rounder.

“Ever since I started handball, I played on all positions. Left wing, right wing, line player, backcourt as well, even goalkeeper. Then, when I was about 15, I settled on the wing, but I still kept helping out on a lot of positions,” he says.

Now 26, Dylan Nahi is keen to admit, though, that his morphology is one usually associated with left wings. “I am taller and stronger than a lot of people on the same position, but I am not one of a kind. Look at Jonas Källman, he was even taller than I am,” he says. But his height surely is something that most of his coaches have been taking advantage of for a long time.

Not so long ago, Kielce suffered a bad streak of injuries on the line player position. And who stepped in to make up for these absences? Dylan Nahi, of course.

“I can even recall a game against Wisla Plock during that time, which to me remains one of the best I had in my career. I think I scored nine on the line player position, I scored seven-metres, I defended and played for an hour,” he recalls. “That day, I felt like all the planets had aligned and that I was really in the zone.”

Being confined to the left-wing corner might have been frustrating for someone as playful as Dylan Nahi. While he is capable of doing so many things, and doing them right, only giving him the ball once in a while could be seen as a waste of his talent. But he, on the other hand, does not seem to take offence.

“I am aware that I am able to bring so much more to the table that just being your usual winger. I can defend on many positions, I can bring danger offensively as well, I just don’t want to be the guy waiting for the ball in the corner,” he says. “I can help anywhere and make the decision from a lot of spots on the court. I really see myself as the Swiss Army knife for every team I play in.”

He calls the three coaches he has played for since he became a professional “probably the three best in the world”: Noka Serdarusic, Raul Gonzalez, and Talant Dujshebaev. They have always given him great responsibilities in defence.

“I love being able to catch the guy with the ball in his hands, to have this physical contact. The spotlight is often on the offence, but the defence is, to me, just as important. How can you win games without stealing the ball or helping your goalkeeper?”

Thanks to his height, Nahi has almost always been defending on the number two position, where backcourt players are often used to defend. “Noka Serdarusic put me there first, and while it was tough at first, I really liked the challenge. There is much more going on, you are much more in the centre of the game, and I like it a lot more,” Nahi explains.

Over the years, Dylan Nahi’s reputation as a tough defender has made his way across Europe. And while no player will ever admit he would rather change the direction in which he runs than to cross his path, Nahi sure takes pleasure in the mental game that defensive face-offs require.

“There are always mental games within a game. You know how they say that if you stop a guy twice, he will not come back a third time? Well, a game is so long that it’s important to remain humble, because if you let your guard down, 100 per cent you are going to lose on the next action,” says Nahi.

And along with defensive aggressiveness, Dylan Nahi has also made himself a specialist in talking on the court — while adding a little bit of wit to it. “It’s something I do all the time, it kind of reflects my personality on the court. I love to goof around and maybe add some trash talk in the mix as well,” he explains.

But playing that game, it is easy to get lost into it. Just like being aggressive, talking too much to your opponents could make your train derail off the game tracks. “And sometimes, I lost myself. I guess that, with experience, I have gotten better at walking that thin line where you are aggressive enough but not too much.”  

photos © Tomasz Fafara (main, in-text photos), kolektiff (galleries)