Emil Nielsen (handballer)
Emil Nielsen | |||
---|---|---|---|
| |||
Personal information | |||
Born |
Aarhus, Denmark | 10 March 1997||
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 | 37 | (2) |
1 National team caps and goals correct as of 29 January 2024 |
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
[edit]Emil Nielsen started playing handball at the age of 10. When he was only 17 he debuted for Aarhus Håndbold. In his debut season in 2014/15 he had the best save ratio in the Danish league at 38% for the year. When he was 19, Danish coach Ulrik Wilbek called him the 'biggest talent' at his position. [5] When he was 20 years old at the end of the 2016 season, he was diagnosed with meningitis, which nearly ended his career.[6] Despite his health issues, he was still wanted by the Danish club Skjern Håndbold, which signed him despite the fact that he could not start the season.[7]
Two years after he debuted for Danish national team.[8] He did, however, not have immediate success with the Danish national team, and was left out because the national coach Nikolaj Jacobsen did "live up to the requirements of a professional sportsperson" in 2019.[9][10] He was supposedly not stable enough in his goalkeeping, and he did not follow his training regime closely enough, according to the national team goalkeeping coach, Michael Bruun.[11]
In 2019 he signed for the French club HBC Nantes. According to Tv2 Denmark, Nantes paid a transfer fee of around 1.000.000 DKK. Nielsen enjoyed success at Nantes, and in 2022 he signed with FC Barcelona Handbol.[12] Here 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.[13] 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.[14]
Honours
[edit]- Danish Championship
- Winner: 2018
- Coupe de la Ligue
- Winner: 2021–22
- Liga ASOBAL
- Winner: 2023, 2024
- Copa ASOBAL
- Winner: 2023, 2024
- Copa del Rey
- Winner: 2023
- Supercopa Ibérica
- Winner: 2022
- EHF Champions League
- IHF Super Globe
- Individual awards
- Best Goalkeeper of the European Men's U-18 Handball Championship: 2014[15]
References
[edit]- ^ "Emil Nielsen Profile". European Handball Federation. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ^ "Emil Nielsen – Statistik – Håndbold.dk". Dansk Håndbold Forbund. Archived from the original on 29 June 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Team Roster Denmark" (PDF). ihf.info. 15 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
- ^ https://politiken.dk/sport/haandbold/art5638517/Fra-meningitis-til-topkontrakt?track=lokalavisen
- ^ https://www.alt.dk/sundhed/emil-nielsen-haandbold
- ^ https://sport.tv2.dk/haandbold/2018-03-26-udtaget-til-landsholdet-efter-alvorlig-sygdom-fuldstaendig-surrealistisk
- ^ https://sport.tv2.dk/haandbold/2018-03-26-udtaget-til-landsholdet-efter-alvorlig-sygdom-fuldstaendig-surrealistisk
- ^ https://sport.tv2.dk/haandbold/2019-05-24-han-overholder-ikke-kravene-som-serioes-sportsmand-siger-jacobsen
- ^ https://sport.tv2.dk/haandbold/2024-01-29-paa-sin-vej-til-toppen-har-emil-nielsen-rejst-sig-fra-offentlig-kritik-fra-landstraeneren-og-en-alvorlig-sygdom
- ^ https://sport.tv2.dk/haandbold/2019-05-24-han-overholder-ikke-kravene-som-serioes-sportsmand-siger-jacobsen
- ^ https://sport.tv2.dk/haandbold/2022-07-06-landsholdsspiller-skifter-til-barcelona
- ^ https://europamester.dk/emil-nielsen-eneste-over-40-redningsprocent-em
- ^ 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.
- ^ "All-star team nominated at Men's 18 EHF EURO 2014". European Handball Federation. 25 August 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
External links
[edit]- Emil Nielsen at the European Handball Federation
- Emil Nielsen at the Ligue Nationale de Handball (in French)
- 1997 births
- Living people
- Danish male handball players
- Handball players from Aarhus
- Handball players from the Central Denmark Region
- Danish expatriate handball players
- Danish expatriate sportspeople in Spain
- FC Barcelona Handbol players
- Liga ASOBAL players
- Handball players at the 2024 Summer Olympics
- Olympic handball players for Denmark
- Danish expatriate handball players in Spain
- Danish expatriate handball players in France
- HBC Nantes players
- Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics
- Olympic gold medalists for Denmark
- Olympic medalists in handball