In 2010 his team achieved the biggest success in the federation’s history: The Swedish women reached the final of the ECh in Norway and Denmark. Although they lost the match against record European Champion Norway, coach Per Johansson is optimistic that this has not been the last success of his team. In the meantime the Swedish women’s team has managed to step out of the shadow of the even more successful men’s team, which is also due to the high hopes prior to the WCh in Brazil. The best WCh result of the Swedish women so far was a 6th place in 1993, which Johansson tries to improve in Brazil. In addition he hopes that Norway becomes World Champion, as in such a case his team will be directly qualified for London as Vice European Champion.

 

Johansson: We have directly qualified for the WCh as silver medallist, which is already a sensational success for the Swedish women. Our aim for Brazil is not necessarily to win another medal, but to show that our ECh success was not a one-day wonder. I think that we’re by now no longer the underdog, but a team that all competitors take seriously. We’ve worked extremely hard, but we have of course great respect for all competitors in Brazil. It’s very important for us that we’ve finally given up the role of the underdog, as the competitors now show us respect. 

 

Johansson: We want to gain self-confidence for the Olympic Games, which is our big objective and definitely takes centre stage. We have made incredible progress, but we have by far not reached the limit. The WCh in Brazil is thus an important step for our future. We do not only want to confirm the ECh success, but repeat it, which we can only achieve together as a team though. The team stands above it all, as we don’t have any exceptionally strong individual players. For that reason we’re dreaming of our next success in Brazil, but we’re well aware that we’re now playing a different role, since we’re no longer the underdog. We want to compete for a medal, which requires team spirit and discipline.

 

Johansson: We’ve talked a lot and set clear framework conditions, including provisions on how the team should play in different situations. All players must stick to this framework if we want to succeed, only by so doing can we hit our top form. The players understood that this is the only way, and that they might have to forget about their egos from time to time, as it’s all about the team. 

 

Johansson: We created a team structure, which enables us to play better than ever before. We have by now many players who have gained long international experience. Besides, the age structure of our team is just perfect, given some young talents and players who are about to become key players. I think this will give us the possibility to bring the best out of this team in the next two years. I believe that Swedish women’s handball has good prospects, as our youth and junior teams are very successful and there are many talents. 

 

Johansson: Yes, the media have finally found us. After the final weekend of the 2010 ECh the biggest Swedish newspaper published a twelve-page article about us. Nevertheless you have to admit that handball – no matter if men or women – is of course in the shadow of football and ice hockey. The development has however shown that women’s handball is becoming more and more popular. 

 

Johansson: In fact we’ve proved over the last years that we’re performing the best during our away matches – also because we had only a few home matches. We’re not afraid of playing in other countries. If, in Brazil, the opportunity arises to become host of such a tournament, we will of course seize it. In my opinion, away matches help our team to become even stronger. 

 

Johansson: France currently has an extremely strong team, the Russian team got back some key players of previous years and Norway is always among the best – these three are my top favourites. But I think that a total of eight teams could compete for the medals, including host Brazil which is in my opinion a candidate for the semi-finals – and when it comes to Korea, you never know how strong they really are. 

 

Johansson: I represent not only handball, but the whole of Swedish sport: We – and I’m speaking also for other federations – are perfectly supported by our National Olympic Committee. For instance the Swedish handball legend Stefan Lövgren is now working with us. The Swedish people love sports, in particular team sports, and the Olympics increase the interest in any sport. Therefore we hope that both teams, and also teams from other sports, qualify for London, so that the efforts of our NOC are worthwhile.