Sweden keeps duo to 2020
Photo: http://www.handbollslandslaget.se
Written by: Rasmus Boysen
The Swedish Handball Federation has extended the contracts with the national coach duo Kristján Andrésson and Martin Boquist to the summer of 2020.
Press release from the Swedish Handball Federation:
The national team coach duo extends to 2020
Just over a year ago, the Icelandic coach Kristján Andrésson was presented as the new head coach of the Swedish national team in handball and shortly afterwards Martin Boquist as assistant. Now the duo has signed a new contract that spans over the European Championship at home in 2020 and the Olympics 2020 in Tokyo.
"It was a very easy decision to make when the opportunity to continue working on an exciting team and a very competent leadership team appeared," said Andrésson.
23 matches, 16 wins, two draws and five losses. Sixth place in the World Championship 2017 and qualifying for the European Championship 2018. It is Sweden's facit with Kristján Andrésson as the head coach and Martin Boquist as assistant.
Now it is clear that there will be significantly more matches with the duo.
The current contracts will expire this summer, but it is already clear that Andrésson and Boquist will stay at least until after the Olympics in Tokyo in the summer of 2020. In January of the same year, the European Championship is also played at home in Sweden.
"First of all, it has been a very educational and fun year and then we have many fun championships in front of us. Our team was the youngest in the World Championship this winter and it will be incredibly inspiring to continue working with the players in the European Championship in Croatia in January as well," says 36-year-old Andrésson.
Martin Boquist, who played 217-A caps and, among other things, won the World Championship and European Championship gold as active, also looks forward to the move.
"We, who had the opportunity to work with the national team in recent years, have had an incredible energy from it. The players are hungry and want to get better all the time and it will be very fun to follow them on the road to even bigger successes," he says.
Boquist comes in parallel with the job as assistant coach to continue work with the talents in Swedish handball.
National team manager Lasse Tjernberg on the extension of the duo:
"Kristján and Martin have already shown in their first year how skilled leaders they are and they have formed a national team that has gained real respect by all opponents. From the side of the national team committee it was a matter of course to offer them an extension and we are glad they chose to stay," he says
On December 4th, Kristján Andésson presents the Swedish European Championship squad at a press conference in Stockholm. The team will gather since January 2 and meet Ljubomir Vranjes' Hungary in Jönköping on January 6th and in Partille on January 8th before departure to Croatia will take place on January 10th. Two days later, Iceland stands for the resistance in the European Championship debute match in Split.
