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Emil Nielsen (handballer)

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Emil Nielsen
Personal information
Born (1997-03-10) 10 March 1997 (age 27)
Aarhus, Denmark
Nationality Danish
Height 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Playing position Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club FC Barcelona
Number 12
Youth career
Team
 AGF/Viby Håndbold
Senior clubs
Years Team
2015–2017
 Aarhus Håndbold
2017–2019
 Skjern Håndbold
2019–2022
 HBC Nantes
2022–
 FC Barcelona
National team 1
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–
 Denmark 50 (5)
Medal record
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2024 Paris Team
World Championship
Gold medal – first place 2021 Egypt
European Championship
Silver medal – second place 2024 Germany
1 National team caps and goals correct
as of 12:37, 25 August 2024 (UTC)

Emil Nielsen (born 10 March 1997) is a Danish professional handball player for FC Barcelona and the Danish national team.[1]

He made his debut on the Danish national team on 5 April 2018.[2] He represented Denmark at the 2021 World Men's Handball Championship.[3][4]

Career

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Emil Nielsen started playing handball at the age of 10 and made his debut for Aarhus Håndbold at 17. In the 2014–15 season, he achieved the best save ratio in Herreligaen, with 38%. By age 19, Danish coach Ulrik Wilbek had already labeled him as the "biggest talent" in his position.[5]

At the end of the 2016 season, when he was 20 years old, Nielsen was diagnosed with meningitis, a condition that nearly ended his career.[6] Despite his health challenges, Nielsen attracted interest from Danish club Skjern Håndbold, who signed him even though he was unable to participate at the start of the season.[7]

Two years later, he made his international debut for the Denmark national team.[7] However, he did not achieve immediate success with the Danish national team and was left out in 2019 after national coach Nikolaj Jacobsen stated that he did not meet the "professional standards" required.[8][9] He was reportedly deemed insufficiently stable in his goalkeeping and not diligent in following his training regimen, according to national team goalkeeping coach Michael Bruun.[8]

In 2019, he signed a three-year contract with the French LNH Division 1 club HBC Nantes, which, according to TV 2 Denmark, paid a transfer fee of approximately DKK 1 million.[10] Nielsen enjoyed a successful stint at Nantes, and in 2022, he signed with FC Barcelona Handbol.[11] There, he won the treble in his first season.

His breakthrough on the Danish national team would come at the 2024 European Championship, where he had the tournament's overall highest saving percentage and the third most overall saves.[12] Nielsen ended up starring in the final, being named player of the match, though he was unable to secure victory, as Denmark lost to France in extra time.[13]

Personal life

[edit]

Nielsen grew up in Aarhus, Denmark. He began his primary education at Laursens Realskole in 2004, continued his studies at Risskov Efterskole, and completed his secondary education at Marselisborg Gymnasium from 2014 to 2016.[14]

During the 2024 Summer Olympics, Nielsen's father died, but he stayed in Paris and continued to compete, contributing to Denmark's gold medal victory.[15] He received support from teammates and psychological assistance during the tournament.[16]

Honours

[edit]
Individual awards

References

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  1. ^ "Emil Nielsen Profile". European Handball Federation. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  2. ^ "Emil Nielsen – Statistik – Håndbold.dk". Dansk Håndbold Forbund. Archived from the original on 29 June 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  3. ^ "Nikolaj Jacobsen indkalder 20 spillere til VM". Danish Handball Federation (DHF). 17 December 2020. Archived from the original on 21 February 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  4. ^ "Team Roster Denmark" (PDF). ihf.info. 15 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  5. ^ Bech, Rasmus (5 October 2016). "Fra meningitis til topkontrakt". Politiken (in Danish). Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  6. ^ Vilsbøl, Louise (22 January 2024). "Emil Nielsen gemmer på en mørk historie, som var ved at sætte en stopper for karrieren". alt. (in Danish). Archived from the original on 5 February 2024. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  7. ^ a b Lage, Jacob Nordestgaard (26 March 2018). "Udtaget til landsholdet efter alvorlig sygdom: - Fuldstændig surrealistisk". TV 2 Sport (in Danish). Archived from the original on 28 September 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  8. ^ a b Hansen, Søren; Bruun-Mortensen, Lars (24 May 2019). "- Han overholder ikke kravene som seriøs sportsmand, siger Jacobsen". TV 2 Sport (in Danish). Archived from the original on 29 January 2024. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  9. ^ Ipsen, Christian (29 January 2024). "På sin vej til toppen har Emil Nielsen rejst sig fra offentlig kritik fra landstræneren og en alvorlig sygdom". TV 2 Sport (in Danish). Archived from the original on 29 January 2024. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  10. ^ Bruun-Mortensen, Lars (4 October 2019). "Landstrænerens kommentar gav Emil Nielsen et wakeup-call". TV 2 Sport (in Danish). Archived from the original on 29 January 2024. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  11. ^ "Landsholdsspiller skifter til Barcelona". TV 2 Sport (in Danish). 6 July 2022. Archived from the original on 28 January 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  12. ^ Thomsen, Lara (23 January 2024). "Emil Nielsen er det eneste med over 40 i redningsprocent ved EM". Europamester (in Danish). Archived from the original on 29 January 2024. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  13. ^ Jiwani, Rory (28 January 2024). "Men's EHF Euro 2024: France defeat Denmark in extra-time final thriller after Sweden clinch Paris 2024 quota berth". olympics.com.
  14. ^ "Emil Nielsen". HBOLD (in Danish). 24 August 2024. Archived from the original on 26 May 2024. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  15. ^ "Denmark snatch spellbinding win to win second Olympics gold medal". International Handball Federation (IHF). 11 August 2024. Archived from the original on 12 August 2024. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  16. ^ Haugaard, Mads Artmann (25 August 2024). "Emil Nielsen ramt af tragedie under OL – stod flere gange på banen og græd". TV 2 Sport (in Danish). Archived from the original on 25 August 2024. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  17. ^ "All-star team nominated at Men's 18 EHF EURO 2014". European Handball Federation. 25 August 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
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