Tomas Runar Svensson (born 15 February 1968) is a Swedish former professional

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

goalkeeper who is currently goalkeeping coach of the Swedish men's national handball team, and an assistant coach for

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

Career

Growing up in Eskilstuna it was only natural for him to play for the towns handball team, GUIF, and he was moved up to their senior squad, making his debut in the Swedish top division at the age of 15. In 1988, at the age of 20, he made his first cap for Sweden and in 1990 he was one of the main forces in the national team who won the World Championship in Czechoslovakia. This success landed him a contract with Atlético Madrid BM in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

where he played for some time before moving to

CD Bidasoa CD Bidasoa Irun is a team of handball based in Irún, Spain. It plays in Liga ASOBAL. History The Basque club was founded in 1962. Five years after its foundation, CD Bidasoa managed to get promoted to the second division and after the 196 ...

. With this team he won his first Spanish championship in 1995. Right after this he moved to

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

where he stayed for several seasons, helping the team become the most prominent handball team in the world, winning just about everything there is to win – including international competitions like EHF Champions League and

EHF Men's Champions Trophy The EHF Champions Trophy (named IHF Supercup between 1979 and 1983, named EHF Supercup between 1996 and 2007) was an official annual club competition of the European Handball Federation, that was contested until 2008. History Regarded as one of t ...

as well as Spanish competitions like Liga ASOBAL and Copa del Rey de Balonmano. Svensson moved to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and HSV Hamburg for a short while before returning to Spain, this time to play for Portland San Antonio. On 8 May 2012, Svensson officially announced his retirement as a player.
Svensson retires (Swedish)
After his playing career, he worked together with Icelandic coach Guðmundur Guðmundsson, first as a goalkeeping coach with the German top team Rhein-Neckar Löwen and later as assistant coach of the Danish national men's team. In 2018, he became goalkeeping coach of the Icelandic national handball team. Between the years of 2014 to 2021 he's been involved with the German team SC Magdeburg, both as a head coach and goalkeeping coach. In 2021 he became goalkeeping coach for Sweden's national men's team. It was also announced he'll be assistant coach in

from the season of 2021/22.

Player clubs

Eskilstuna GUIF Eskilstuna Guif is a handball club based in Eskilstuna, Sweden, which currently competes in Handbollsligan, the top domestic handball league. The club was founded in 1896 as Godtemplarnas Ungdoms- och Idrottsförening (The Good Templars' Youth and ...

* Atlético Madrid BM *

* HSV Hamburg * Portland San Antonio * Pevafersa Valladolid * Rhein-Neckar Löwen

Trainer teams

* Rhein-Neckar Löwen, goalkeeping coach (2011–2012) * Rhein-Neckar Löwen, assistant coach (2012–2014) * Danish men's national team, goalkeeping coach (2014–2016) * SC Magdeburg, goalkeeping coach (2014–2015) * SC Magdeburg, head coach (2015–2016) * SC Magdeburg, goalkeeping coach (2016–2021) * Icelandic men's national team, goalkeeping coach (2018–2021) *

Eskilstuna Guif Eskilstuna Guif is a handball club based in Eskilstuna, Sweden, which currently competes in Handbollsligan, the top domestic handball league. The club was founded in 1896 as Godtemplarnas Ungdoms- och Idrottsförening (The Good Templars' Youth and ...

, goalkeeping coach (2019) * Swedish men's national handball team, goalkeeping coach (2021–) *

, assistant coach (2021–)

Resume

* Caps/goals: 327/0 (1988–2008) * World champion 1990 (in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

) and 1999 (in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

) * European champion 1994, 2000 and 2002 * 2nd place in the 2001 World championship * 3rd place in the 1993 and 1995 World championships * Participated in three Summer Olympics: Barcelona (1992), Atlanta (1996) and Sydney (2000) * 6 consecutive EHF Champions League titles 1995–2000 (1996–2000 with FC Barcelona) * Goalkeeper of EHF's Champions League Ultimate Selection in 2013

Aircraft accident

In 1991, Svensson, along with his then girlfriend, survived the Scandinavian Airlines Flight 751 plane crash in Gottröra, Sweden.

Personal life

Svensson settled in Spain after moving to Barcelona, and married a Spanish woman. His son, Max Svensson, is a professional footballer. He is a paternal uncle of Maja Åskag.

References

sports-reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:Svensson, Tomas 1968 births Swedish male handball players Swedish handball coaches Handball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic handball players of Sweden Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in handball Olympic silver medalists for Sweden Liga ASOBAL players FC Barcelona Handbol players BM Valladolid players SDC San Antonio players Rhein-Neckar Löwen players Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Spain Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents People from Eskilstuna Living people Swedish emigrants to Spain Sportspeople from Södermanland County