Swedish coach Per Johansson has been appointed the new coach of the Netherlands women’s national team, replacing the interim coach who led the Dutch side at the 2021 IHF Women’s World Championship, Monique Tijsterman.

The 51-year-old ace signed a two-year contract with the Dutch Handball Association (NHV), becoming the ninth coach to assume the position in the last 32 years and the first-ever Swedish coach to lead the Netherlands’ national team.

Johansson, who is also serving as the coach of Russian powerhouse Rostov-Don, will lead the third women’s national team in his career, after being the head coach of Sweden between 2008 and 2012 and leading Montenegro between 2017 and 2020.

His best-ever performance was the silver medal secured with Sweden at the EHF EURO 2010, while at club level – where he coached Kungalvs HK, CSM Bucuresti, Boden Handboll and Rostov-Don in the last 10 years – he snatched the third place in the DELO EHF Champions League with CSM in the 2016/17 season.

“It is overwhelming that the federation has chosen me. It makes me proud and happy that I get the chance to work with a very good Netherlands team. The team are very experienced and young talent develops at lightning speed. I see it as my task to combine experienced players and young talent, to bring balance to the team and to let them develop towards the future,” said Johansson, according to the official website of the Netherlands Handball Federation.

The Netherlands’ women’s national team have been one of the sides that competed for titles in the last decade, undergoing a huge makeover, with a flurry of generational talents breaking into the team.

Between 2015 and 2019, the Netherlands qualified for the semi-finals in six consecutive major tournaments, securing the silver medals at the IHF Women’s World Championship 2015 and the EHF EURO 2016 and the bronze medals at IHF Women’s World Championship 2017 and the EHF EURO 2018.

The biggest performance was, however, clinching the first-ever title on the world’s biggest handball stage, when the Netherlands beat Spain in the Japan 2019 final 30:29, with a last-gasp penalty converted by Lois Abbingh.

However, after several crucial players met an end to their international careers, coach Emmanuel Mayonnade stepped down in September 2021, being replaced on an interim basis by Monique Tijsterman, who helped nurture the young talents ushered in over the last decade at the junior and youth levels.

The Netherlands proved to be a superb attacking powerhouse at the IHF Women’s World Championship 2021, but their only loss in the competition, 34:37 in the main round against Norway, was fatal, as the Netherlands side finished ninth, their worst ranking in the competition since 2013.

“We are happy that we were able to convince Per Johansson to join our project. His personality, team spirit and vision really appeal to us. He has achieved good results as a club coach and national coach and we are convinced that we can continue to build our Dutch handball game with him. We believe in a great long-term partnership,” said Serge Rink, the technical director of the Netherlands Handball Federation.

The first test for Johansson will be the double-header against Germany in the EHF EURO 2022 Qualification Phase 2, with the games scheduled for 3 and 5 March. Netherlands lead the group with four points, one point more than Germany and three points ahead of Belarus.

“Germany is a good opponent and the preparation is short, but I’m used to that. I am looking forward to meeting the team and the fans”, concluded Johansson.

Photo: Rostov-Don