Emil Nielsen (handballer)

Emil Nielsen (born 10 March 1997) is a Danish professional handball player for FC Barcelona and the Danish national team.

He made his debut on the Danish national team on 5 April 2018. He represented Denmark at the 2021 World Men's Handball Championship.

Career
Emil Nielsen started playing handball at the age of 10. When he was only 17 he debuted for Aarhus Håndbold. In his debut season in 2014/15 he had the best save ratio in the Danish league at 38% for the year. When he was 19, Danish coach Ulrik Wilbek called him the 'biggest talent' at his position. When he was 20 years old at the end of the 2016 season, he was diagnosed with meningitis, which nearly ended his career. Despite his health issues, he was still wanted by the Danish club Skjern Håndbold, which signed him despite the fact that he could not start the season.

Two years after he debuted for Danish national team. He did, however, not have immediate success with the Danish national team, and was left out because the national coach Nikolaj Jacobsen did "live up to the requirements of a professional sportsperson" in 2019. He was supposedly not stable enough in his goalkeeping, and he did not follow his training regime closely enough, according to the national team goalkeeping coach, Michael Bruun.

In 2019 he signed for the French club HBC Nantes. According to Tv2 Denmark, Nantes paid a transfer fee of around 1.000.000 DKK. Nielsen enjoyed succes at Nantes, and in 2022 he signed with FC Barcelona Handbol. Here he won the treble in his first season.

His breakthrough on the Danish national team would come at the 2024 European Championship, where he had the tournament's overall highest saving percentage and the third most overall saves. Nielsen ended up starring in the final, being named player of the match, though he was unable to secure victory, as Denmark lost to France in extra time.

Honours

 * Danish Championship
 * Winner: 2018
 * Coupe de la Ligue
 * Winner: 2021–22
 * Liga ASOBAL
 * Winner: 2023, 2024
 * Copa ASOBAL
 * Winner: 2023, 2024
 * Copa del Rey
 * Winner: 2023
 * Supercopa Ibérica
 * Winner: 2022
 * EHF Champions League
 * Winner: 2024
 * Bronze medal: 2023
 * IHF Super Globe
 * Silver medal: 2022
 * Bronze medal: 2023


 * Individual awards
 * Best Goalkeeper of the European Men's U-18 Handball Championship: 2014