PHOTO: Bildbyrån
He is one of Swedish handball’s big profiles.
Today we pay tribute to the icon Staffan Olsson on his big 60th birthday.
Then the former player and national team captain reveals his strange nickname “Fax”.
There are few players who have meant as much to Swedish handball as Staffan Olsson. As a 15-year-old, he made his very first match and it would be the start of a fantastic career.
The legendary Olsson
Olsson was one of the great leaders and key figures during the so successful national team era “Bengan Boys”. The era of greatness began with the impressive WC gold in 1990, Sweden’s first gold in 32 long years.
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The iconic right-handed nine was then involved in securing two WC golds, four European Championship golds, three Olympic silvers and a total of twelve championship medals with Blågult. Staffan Olsson delivered 855 goals in 358 international matches for Sweden during many unforgettable years in the absolute top of the world.
Staffan’s nickname
He also had a successful club team career where the highlight was of course the time in the German big club THW Kiel. After his playing career, Olsson also had many fine years as a handball coach in Hammarby, PSG and as national team captain for Sweden and the Netherlands with three SM golds and an Olympic silver as his main merits.
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Today, the handball legend turns 60 years old and then reveals the truth about the strange nickname “Fax” that has accompanied him through most of his career. Namely, it was the Icelanders who coined the name that has become so popular.
– I got the nickname a few years before the WC in 1995, which was at home in Iceland. We played in a small town called Akureyri. There was also someone who was a bit clever there and opened a coffee shop during the WC called Faxe. It was a bit funny, says Staffan in a video on Youtube, see below.
READ MORE: The legendary Staffan Olsson’s adamant criticism – against the Swedish national handball team: “No damn amusement park”
Faxe means horse in Old Norse and thanks to the long hair that looked like a man, the Icelanders saw a resemblance to the four-legged animal. So then it simply became Staffan “Faxe” Olsson and he himself seems to enjoy his most unexpected nickname.
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