The Danish national coach Nikolaj Jacobsen is a good friend of his Swiss counterpart Andy Schmid. However, he will not be handing out any presents in the World Cup duel on Thursday evening.
23.01.2025, 04:15
23.01.2025, 06:45
SDA
Nikolaj Jacobsen arrives later than planned for his interview with the Swiss media, having previously been questioned at length by the Danish journalists. He has every reason to be relaxed at the moment. His team's 40:30 victory over Germany on Tuesday evening impressively confirmed that the title will once again go to the Danes. For the Olympic champions, Switzerland on Thursday should only be a stopover on the way to their fourth World Championship title in a row.
Nevertheless, it is a special match for Jacobsen, as he has a "very good" relationship with Andy Schmid. The two met in 2009 at the Danish team Bjerringbro-Silkeborg, Schmid's first stop abroad. Jacobsen was working there as an assistant coach at the time. He speaks good German because he played in the Bundesliga for a long time. He was therefore an important reference person for the inquisitive Schmid.
Mentor and friend
Although the Swiss left the club for Rhein-Neckar Löwen after just one year, the two never lost touch. Jacobsen took over as head coach of the Löwen in the 2014/15 season, a position he held until 2019. During this time together, the team from Mannheim won its only two championship titles to date (2016 and 2017).
"These five years strengthened our friendship," says Jacobsen. "He not only means a lot to me, but also to my family." The 53-year-old can be described as Schmid's mentor in his still young coaching career, watching the Swiss' games and giving his assessment. "I like to help him, sometimes explain to him what I would have done," says Jacobsen.
The two are also in regular contact during the World Cup. Schmid wrote to him asking him to go easy on Mathias Gidsel, currently the best handball player in the world. But Jacobsen waved him off. "He can forget that," he clarifies. After all, a win against Switzerland would put the Danes in the quarter-finals as group winners.
Potential as a Bundesliga coach
Schmid also believes Jacobsen has great potential as a coach. He sees him in the Bundesliga one day. "He's developing well. The Swiss got better from game to game, which shows that he is learning from the games. I can see that he's experimenting, his attacking play is variable and he's trying to be proactive in defense."
Jacobsen is impressed by the Swiss defense. "They are physically strong, tall, have clever defenders and, above all, they have a very, very good goalkeeper in Nikola Portner. That's why you always have to have respect for them." However, he is obviously not worried about the Swiss, instead he says: "I'm looking forward to seeing what Andy comes up with."
