After a few years as assistant national team captain, Apelgren took over the main responsibility when Glenn Solberg chose to leave last autumn.
Then star Felix Claar was already injured, and later injuries to midfielders Oscar Bergendahl and Max Darj would also be added before the World Championship.
No Excuses
But Apelgren did not want to make excuses after Friday evening's 24-27 loss to Brazil, which extinguished Sweden's hopes of playing in the World Championship quarterfinals in Oslo.
It's clear that (the injuries) are a setback, but this is not the right forum and time for me to stand and talk about a lot of excuses. Instead, it's just about taking full responsibility for not getting it done.
We have been uncertain about this tournament from the start. And we entered this mission in a special way and late, and I've felt since we started - that it's been tough. Very, very tough. I'm not extremely surprised, even though I'm very disappointed.
The drawn matches against Spain and Portugal earlier in the World Championship, two matches that Sweden could and should have won, put the team in a tough spot before the meeting with Brazil.
We end up in a match where we have our backs against the wall and then we miss 20 shots. Extremely many are extremely clear scoring opportunities. That's probably the biggest reason, and then it becomes mentally tough, says Apelgren.
"Often tough in the beginning"
The 40-year-old Stockholmer said already before the World Championship that he often starts his new coaching assignments a bit shaky. A pattern that is now confirmed with Sweden's early World Championship exit.
If I look back on my own coaching career, I've often had it a bit tough in the beginning. Because you try to make things concrete and be tactically clear, and that can initially make some players a bit more uncertain. That might be one of the reasons, says the acknowledged tactician.
I've still tried to keep it very simple and not make it too complicated.
The next championship for Sweden will be the European Championship in a year, with group play in Malmö and potential medal matches in Danish Herning.
Apelgren still sees a bright future for the national team, which concludes the World Championship with a meaningless match against Norway on Sunday evening.
I hope and believe that if we get more time together and a few more guys back, we have a great chance to get it done. It was small things (the drawn matches) that led us to this situation, that we didn't get to lose today.
