The art of goalkeeping: Mats Olsson’s Handball Mastermind

Olsson is an EHF Hall of Fame inductee, two-time Olympic silver medallist and world champion with Sweden’s legendary ‘Bengan Boys’. He played almost 300 times for Sweden and has since been the goalkeeping coach for the Norwegian women’s national team and Portuguese and Swedish men’s national teams, as well as for Elverum Håndball and now SG Flensburg-Handewitt.

In this episode, Olsson breaks down the secrets of elite goalkeeping, including decision-making, anticipation, defensive trust and resilience under pressure.

He points out that he and the rest of the Bengan Boys were not necessarily the most physically gifted squad, adding: “We were not the tallest or the strongest. But we knew how to work together — and that is what made us champions.”

Mentality is key to Olsson’s philosophy.

“Goalkeeping is about trust — between you, the defenders, and the game itself,” he believes.

Coaching never stops

Olsson says transitioning into coaching was natural, adding: “I played almost 20 years. But coaching is where I learned the most about handball.”

As a goalkeeper coach, he has been part of several major titles for Sweden and Norway, and has built a particularly strong relationship with Norway’s Katrine Lunde, who credits Olsson for key evolutions in her game. Olsson is equally complimentary about Lunde, saying: “Katrine is special. She never stops learning. And she makes everyone around her better.”

The episode sees Olsson discuss some of the changes in Lunde’s game he helped her achieve, which led to some of her recent achievements including MVP of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

“Goalkeeping is simple: stop the ball. But to stop the ball is the most complex job in the sport,” Olsson says in the episode, which unpacks the technique, psychology and decision-making in the position where the smallest margins decide everything.

Watch the full episode now on EHFTV and on the Home of Handball YouTube channel.

Photos © Kolektiff Images