BIOGRAPHY
13 – unlucky for some, but not for Staffan Olsson, the Swedish left-hander who wore the number on his jersey throughout his successful playing career, before transitioning to a top coach.
Heralding from the city of Uppsala, Olsson came through the ranks at Skånela IF before making his senior debut in 1983 with HK Cliff, but he would not turn professional for another six years, when he moved to Germany to sign for second division club TV Hüttenberg, aged 25.
He quickly made up for lost time, remaining in Germany until 2003 after his club career took him to TV Niederwurzbach and THW Kiel, before returning to Sweden with Hammarby IF.
But it is his national team career for which he is highly acclaimed. From his debut in 1986 to retirement in 2004, Olsson amassed 358 caps, scoring 855 goals as his passing and defending abilities shone through in a golden era of Swedish handball.
He was a key member of the Sweden side that won four of the first five Men’s EHF EURO tournaments, with the last of those triumphs coming on home soil in 2002, when perhaps the most famous goal of his career sent the final into overtime, before Sweden finally saw off Germany in Stockholm.
Olsson also amassed two wins at the World Championship with the “Bengan Boys”, but was denied the ultimate Olympic prize on three successive occasions.
“Faxe” is well-known by the next generation, too, owing to his coaching achievements. While guiding Hammarby to three Swedish titles, he became joint-head coach of Sweden in 2008 alongside Ola Lindgren.
Holding the position until 2016, he picked up a fourth Olympic silver medal in 2012. An assistant coach at Paris Saint-Germain from 2015 to 2018, Olsson became the Netherlands head coach in 2022.
