10.01.2017, 11:12 INTERVIEW: Nikolaj Jacobsen is looking forwarding to take on his new job as Denmark's national team coach next season despite knowing that he will also be measured against his predecessors' successes |
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Jacobsen: “If you want a top job, you have to be ready to fill big shoes”The majority of the Danish handball community, fans and media alike, saw it as an early Christmas present on 2 December 2016 when Nikolaj Jacobsen was introduced as new men's national team coach, succeeding Gudmundur Gudmundsson at the beginning of the next season. The Danish Handball Federation was so keen on getting the 45-year-old former left wing on board that the DHF even made an exception from its own principle that a national team coach should not have two jobs. With Jacobsen, for the first two years of his four-year contract he will still be in charge of current German champions Rhein-Neckar Löwen alongside the Danish national team. Coincidentally, this is the second time that Denmark's new coach arrives from Rhein-Neckar Löwen. Gudmundsson was also in charge of the German team before he took over the national team in 2014. The Icelandic will remain in charge until the end of the current season with the final qualification matches for the EHF EURO 2018 being his last matches at the Danish helm. For Jakobsen, what will then start is a challenge that he called himself “my dream job”.
ehf-euro.com: Nikolaj Jacobsen, why is Denmark's national team coach your dream job?
ehf-euro.com: According to many accounts, you were also the dream coach of the majority of fans, media and players. How do you feel about that?
ehf-euro.com: What can you add to the Danish team as its new coach?
ehf-euro.com: You accepted the job without knowing who would be your boss. The new sports director was announced a month after you signed. Did you not have any concerns about that?
ehf-euro.com: Do you know the new sports director Morten Henriksen?
ehf-euro.com: Did the fact that you are going to work in two jobs for two years not make you doubt whether that will be actually possible?
ehf-euro.com: Several Danish national team players play in the German Bundesliga. Will it be an extra advantage for you that you can follow closer as you work in the Bundesliga yourself?
ehf-euro.com: The shoes to fill after Gudmundsson's departure are considerably large after he led Denmark to Olympic gold in Rio, and they may be even larger if he also wins the World Championship with Denmark later this month. What are your thoughts on that?
ehf-euro.com: Your first major test as Denmark's national coach will be the EHF EURO 2018 in Croatia, provided that Denmark qualify. You would have the entire autumn of 2017 to prepare. Is it an advantage to get this relatively quiet start to the new job? TEXT: Peter Bruun / ts |
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