Emil Nielsen (handballer) explained

Emil Nielsen
Nationality:Danish
Birth Date:10 March 1997
Birth Place:Aarhus, Denmark
Height:1.95 m
Position:Goalkeeper
Currentclub:FC Barcelona
Clubnumber:12
Youthclubs1:AGF/Viby Håndbold
Years1:2015–2017
Clubs1:Aarhus Håndbold
Years2:2017–2019
Clubs2:Skjern Håndbold
Years3:2019–2022
Clubs3:HBC Nantes
Years4:2022–
Clubs4:FC Barcelona
Nationalyears1:2018–
Nationalteam1:Denmark
Nationalcaps1:50
Nationalgoals1:5
Ntupdate: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

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. 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.

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

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

Individual awards

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Emil Nielsen Profile. European Handball Federation. 21 May 2020.
  2. Web site: Emil Nielsen – Statistik – Håndbold.dk. Dansk Håndbold Forbund. 21 May 2020. 29 June 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210629104250/https://dhf.dk/landsholdsinfo/spiller/204942_1. dead.
  3. Web site: Nikolaj Jacobsen indkalder 20 spillere til VM. Danish Handball Federation (DHF). 17 December 2020. 23 December 2020. 21 February 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210221064803/https://www.dhf.dk/nyheder-og-presse/nyheder/nikolaj-jacobsen-indkalder-20-spillere-til-vm/. dead.
  4. News: Team Roster Denmark. ihf.info. 15 January 2021. 15 January 2021.
  5. News: Bech . Rasmus . Fra meningitis til topkontrakt . 25 August 2024 . Politiken . 5 October 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170803005342/https://politiken.dk/sport/haandbold/art5638517/Fra-meningitis-til-topkontrakt?track=lokalavisen . 3 August 2017 . da-DK.
  6. News: Vilsbøl . Louise . Emil Nielsen gemmer på en mørk historie, som var ved at sætte en stopper for karrieren . 25 August 2024 . alt. . 22 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240205120335/https://www.alt.dk/sundhed/emil-nielsen-haandbold . 5 February 2024 . da.
  7. News: Lage . Jacob Nordestgaard . Udtaget til landsholdet efter alvorlig sygdom: - Fuldstændig surrealistisk . 25 August 2024 . TV 2 Sport . 26 March 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210928005623/https://sport.tv2.dk/haandbold/2018-03-26-udtaget-til-landsholdet-efter-alvorlig-sygdom-fuldstaendig-surrealistisk . 28 September 2021 . da-DK.
  8. News: Hansen . Søren . Bruun-Mortensen . Lars . - Han overholder ikke kravene som seriøs sportsmand, siger Jacobsen . 25 August 2024 . TV 2 Sport . 24 May 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240129202006/https://sport.tv2.dk/haandbold/2019-05-24-han-overholder-ikke-kravene-som-serioes-sportsmand-siger-jacobsen . 29 January 2024 . da-DK.
  9. News: Ipsen . Christian . På sin vej til toppen har Emil Nielsen rejst sig fra offentlig kritik fra landstræneren og en alvorlig sygdom . 25 August 2024 . TV 2 Sport . 29 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240129202226/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 . 29 January 2024 . da-DK.
  10. News: Bruun-Mortensen . Lars . Landstrænerens kommentar gav Emil Nielsen et wakeup-call . 25 August 2024 . TV 2 Sport . 4 October 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240129203518/https://sport.tv2.dk/haandbold/2019-10-04-landstraenerens-kommentar-gav-emil-nielsen-et-wakeup-call . 29 January 2024 . da-DK.
  11. News: Landsholdsspiller skifter til Barcelona . 25 August 2024 . TV 2 Sport . 6 July 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230128034713/https://sport.tv2.dk/haandbold/2022-07-06-landsholdsspiller-skifter-til-barcelona . 28 January 2023 . da-DK.
  12. News: Thomsen . Lara . Emil Nielsen er det eneste med over 40 i redningsprocent ved EM . 25 August 2024 . Europamester . 23 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240129153650/https://europamester.dk/emil-nielsen-eneste-over-40-redningsprocent-em . 29 January 2024 . da.
  13. Web site: 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. Web site: Emil Nielsen . HBOLD . 25 August 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240526171956/https://hbold.dk/emil-nielsen-2 . 26 May 2024 . da . 24 August 2024.
  15. News: Denmark snatch spellbinding win to win second Olympics gold medal . 25 August 2024 . . 11 August 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240812041606/https://www.ihf.info/media-center/news/paris-2024-denmark-snatch-spellbinding-win-win-second-olympics-gold-medal . 12 August 2024.
  16. News: Haugaard . Mads Artmann . Emil Nielsen ramt af tragedie under OL – stod flere gange på banen og græd . 25 August 2024 . TV 2 Sport . 25 August 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240825123640/https://sport.tv2.dk/haandbold/2024-08-25-emil-nielsen-ramt-af-tragedie-under-ol-stod-flere-gange-paa-banen-og-graed . 25 August 2024 . da-DK.
  17. Web site: All-star team nominated at Men's 18 EHF EURO 2014 . European Handball Federation. 25 August 2014. 21 May 2020.

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