Sweden began their 2026 campaign on Monday night with a comfortable 34:27 win over Brazil, in which goalkeeper Mikael Appelgren received the player of the match award. Then they beat the Brazilians again, and Appelgren had himself a first half.
The 36-year-old has thrown himself back into contention for Sweden with his summer transfer to Veszprém, a move which has given him a free Christmas for the first time in years, leaving him fresh and fit heading into this month’s EHF EURO.
“It’s been quite life-changing event. I have always been playing over Christmas, where you have to be focused and have a quick Christmas celebration with the family, or sometimes without the family, because you’re playing games. But we played our last game with Veszprem on 13 December, so it was quite new, but also very nice to have some time to regain strength in the body and mind.
“I felt a little bit restless after one day, so I felt I have to I have to get a structure on this. I got a plan from the Swedish national team coach athletic coach, but still it was not that much handball, so I asked some clubs here when I was in Sweden to come by and do some practice with them. As a goalkeeper, you have a feeling that you have to catch some balls in between to feel that you are still in the game.”
That work over the break clearly worked wonders for Appelgren as he took his chance to start against Brazil and put in a performance that will give him an edge in the internal goalkeeper competition with Andreas Palicka and Fabian Norsten.
Appelgren credits his return to the national team and a revival in his career with his move to Hungary, following 13 years in the German Bundesliga.
“It was something that I was really looking forward to, to get a new experience with the team and a new challenge to be back in the Champions League. Sometimes I feel that you have to change environment to develop more and the first six months have been amazing.
“It’s been really intense. New coaches, new players, new club, new country, new city. I’m really happy to be playing at the top level again. Even though I’m not the youngest one in the game, I get to learn a lot of new perspectives and train a little bit differently, getting a lot of new input.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder
Monday’s win over Brazil with Appelgren’s 102nd appearance for Sweden and although he hasn’t been completely out of the picture for the national team, he feels that this month is something of a new beginning.
“Now it’s like this is my comeback. It feels like I’m new in this team, but I know a lot of guys. So after a couple of days I think I will have the feeling that I know this team.
“I have experience that I bring into the squad. I’m a lot calmer than before, but still I feel this excitement to be here again and I have the perspective of what it’s like to be out of the team. When you are playing in the national team a lot, you get a little bit used to it and then it’s not that special. But now I feel this is really special for me to be here, to be able to represent Sweden with these guys and these people around the team. I’m really thankful and feel grateful to be back.”
Following Wednesday’s rematch with Brazil, Sweden have a long period of training to build up to a championship as co-hosts. Appelgren was part of the team which fell at the main round stage at home in 2020, knowing how important it is to deal with the support and expectation.
“I think it’s amazing to be able to play not only for your country but also in your country, and you know you’re going to have fantastic support with your fans as well as family and friends coming down.
“With experience, you also know that with this excitement, you also have to be careful not to push yourself too much, you have to be balanced. We want to show our supporters that we want to win every game and but still to use this pressure as something positive. And this is something I think you can do with the experience and feel the joy of having a fantastic crowd behind you.
Preparation period key in the medal hunt
Having watched some of the recent championships from the sidelines or at home, Appelgren has an outside perspective on Sweden’s recent championships, which have contrasted wildly with early eliminations and semi-final heartbreak, alongside the joys of winning gold.
“It’s interesting, in these championships and always in the big games, there are such small details that are going to affect a lot. One free throw, one penalty, one decision from the referees or something. But I think this team has a lot of experience now, a lot of experienced players. There are also some new players coming in, so I think this mix is a really interesting one. The thing is that you have to find it on the handball court.
“We have a little bit longer now preparation that we have the time to really build some good connections with each other and find ourselves, what we’re comfortable with and where we have to develop.
“We are one of the teams that absolutely can go really far in this tournament, but I think there are also seven or eight teams that can do this. I would say Denmark is the only exception that you can see they are so good and will be hard to beat, but they’re still manageable. There are possible ways to beat them but they are the only team that I see ahead of all others.
“A lot will be decided in what we do during this preparation phase and how we perform in the championship. When it comes down to the team itself, we have great players, you can’t argue with that.”