Diego Simonet: My next goal is to be a good father

“We want to have him in the position to play the last two matches in the league,” said his coach Érick Mathé. Even though he could not play in Hamburg, Diego Simonet was not disappointed: “Seeing Montpellier in the EHF Finals was amazing; it is always a hard way to go there for a French team. It is not given for us all the way — and we did it three times in four years. This season, it was not easy, as we were in the group with Flensburg and Kiel.”

The semi-final defeat hurt a lot for the Argentinian: “We had the chance to be in the final in Hamburg, but we missed important shots. But, still, we are proud of the team, of the character, of what we showed twice. We had the chance, but this is sport; we learn from this experience and we have to take the positive things of each situation.”

Diego and his famous brothers Pablo and Sebastian were born into a handball family — their father and mother were handball internationals in Argentina. Little Diego had a dream: to become a handball professional. Therefore, he left his family at the age of 18 to go abroad, first to Brazil, then to Spain, and finally to France. Since 2013, he has been playing for Montpellier Handball.

“Diego played many, many years in Montpellier, highlighted by the Champions League title in 2018, when he got MVP. It has always been a pleasure to train him. Diego always has a smile on his face, even when he is injured. We want to give him a great farewell to the end of career,” says Mathé. 

“It was very hard at the beginning, because it was the moment when all your friends went to a party, or you think you miss all the important things of your young life. To be a professional, to play for the national team — that was my dream when I was young. I knew that to become a player of the national team, I had to go to Europe, being very far away from my family,” says Diego Simonet about the time when he left his family.

“For me, the first dream was to follow my big brother, who started to play in Europe. I followed his career and I wanted to be like him, so what came after was beyond my dreams.”

The relationship with Pablo and Sebastian is still very special, but they rarely meet nowadays: “The only moment I see my brothers is for Christmas or New Year, but we were so lucky to play together in the national team. We are not only brothers, but friends, because when we play together, there is this special connection that maybe only brothers can have. 

“In difficult moments of your team, you discuss with your brother, maybe you fight, but you go on in a special way. I think that we could be good coaches, but I want to stop travelling all the time, from match to match.”

Following his brother to Europe was the launching pad for Diego’s life: “It was a long career, with 17 years playing abroad. And I don't have any regrets, nothing that I can do better or I could change.”

Finally, he decided to finish his career a few weeks ago: “I am happy to stop now. I know that I could play maybe one or two more years, but I have this necessity, I know that I don't have any more to do, and I have three kids. For me, my goal of my life now is to be a good father. I know the titles, I know the games, and now I think I have to keep my ego on the other side, and be focused on my family.”

Simonet’s wife is Argentinian, but they met in Montpellier — now she gets more time with her husband: “She gave up everything in Argentina to be with me. She is very happy with the situation, but we don't have the family near to help maybe one weekend or two, we are a little bit alone, even if we have friends in Montpellier.”

And the Simonet family will stay where they have settled: “Montpellier is my life, our kids were born in Montpellier, we love Montpellier, it is our city of the heart.”

By looking back at his long career, highlighted by many trophies with Montpellier and the national team, two things stand out for Diego Sioment: “It was a dream to play once in my life at the Olympic Games. When I started to play with the national team, we had not played at the Olympics before. To be once at the Olympics would mean this opportunity for Argentine handball to grow, because Olympics give you much more visibility and can help a lot of the sport in Argentina.

“What started as a dream finally ended with four Olympics in a row, this is much more than we dreamt. Like playing 13 years in a big team, with which I won the Champions League. Personally, my highlight was winning 2018 in Cologne, but for my family and for friends, the biggest thing was to go to the Olympics — this was for the nation.”

In 2018, Montpellier made it to the EHF FINAL4 for the first time, dethroned defending champions Vardar in the semi-finals, then beat Nantes in the all-French final to win the trophy for the second time after 2003 — and the first time for Simonet, who was then named MVP of the tournament and is still the only non-European player to have received this award.

“My father was in Cologne in 2018, and I went to receive this MVP award, I was afraid of his health. To be honest, if you can choose, you go for the Champions League trophy, the MVP is something like the dessert of a great dinner.”

When the final whistle is blown for Diego’s career on Saturday, what will follow — coach, manager, or something outside of handball?

“I will have a little break now, because it was a lot I gave for handball. I want to be more present in my house for my family. Maybe in five, six months, I will think it over. For sure, I would like to help the club of Montpellier in future. We are discussing, but nothing is sure.

“I want to use this break to think what projects I will start. Maybe to help kids grow in handball in Argentina or the Americas, to help handball at home — but this is far away.”

Photos © Laura Etienne/Montpellier Handball (main & in-text), Ingrid Anderson-Jensen, Sasa Pahic Szabo / kolektiff, Axel Heimken (in-text)