Jacobsen could become the second Danish to secure the IHF World Coach of the Year award after Ulrik Wilbek clinched the trophy in 2011. The former left wing, who took over Denmark men’s national team in 2017, has been constantly improving the side, leading the team to a great 2021.
It could have been a perfect 2021, yet Denmark stumbled in the final at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 against France, where the Scandinavian’s side golden generation lost 23:25, securing their first silver medal in history. A pro-active, very attacking-minded coach, Jacobsen is the heart and soul of this Denmark team, who will always be among the favourites at major tournaments in this current iteration.
2021 has been a year of change for Xavier Pascual Fuertes. The legendary Barça coach ended a 12-year association with the Spanish champions, but not before delivering one of the best seasons in club history. Barça won all the games they played throughout the Spanish league, the Spanish Cup, the Spanish Super Cup and last, but not least, the EHF Champions League Men.
In an unprecedented streak, Barça swept their opponents on the way to their 10th trophy in the European premium competition, going on a 20-game winning streak, including a superb 36:23 win against Aalborg Håndbold in the final. However, after winning over 60 trophies with Barça, it was time for a new challenge for Pascual, who decided to sign for Romanian champions C.S. Dinamo Bucuresti.
Building a new team in Dinamo is probably the greatest challenge in Pascual’s career, who has also signed to coach the Romania men’s national team for his second stint in this position.
The big challenge is to bring the former world champions back to the IHF Men’s World Championship, a feature Romania achieved only twice in the past 28 years.
Since being appointed as Spain men’s national team coach in 2016, Jordi Ribera secured five medals with ‘Los Hispanos’, two of which came in 2021.
In January, Spain finished third at the IHF Men’s World Championship in Egypt, after dropping only a single game, the hard-fought 33:35 loss against Denmark in the semi-finals.
A few months later, Ribera led Spain to their fourth bronze medal at the Olympic Games, securing a 33:31 win against Egypt, after conceding another loss against Denmark in the semi-finals.
A tactical mastermind who can easily adapt to what the opponent has to offer, Ribera has transformed an aging Spain squad into a strong unit, both in defence and in attack.
He will now supervise a change of generations as his contract was extended until 2024 thanks to the superb results achieved by ‘Los Hispanos’, especially at the EHF EURO, where they made the final for three editions in a row.
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