National team captain Michael Apelgren says that they did not "go bananas" when selecting the players for the European Handball Championship, which will be held at home as well as in Norway and Denmark.
A long process has meant that they have selected the best players available.
Among the 18 players is a 19-year-old: Malmö's Nikola Roganovic.
"Incredibly fun," says the talent about the opportunity to play in the European Championship.
It will be a great honor to represent my country on home soil. I'm looking forward to it.
"Kind of jokers"
Roganovic has a big role in the club team Malmö, where he plays 50-60 minutes per match, but counts on a significantly smaller role among the more experienced national team players.
However, he won't be content with just being there.
The left is set to take a bigger place than that in the squad.
Månsson and I can come in as some kind of jokers and we can bring energy if we come in from the bench or start, says Roganovic and includes IFK Kristianstad's Axel Månsson, who is also making his championship debut, in parts of the reasoning.
I'm going to show why I was selected, I'm not satisfied with being selected, I want to do more.
“The guy has something”
National team captain Apelgren says that the choice to bring in a couple of younger players is a step towards a generational shift. At the same time, he does not know how much Roganovic will be allowed to play during the European Championship, which will be held from January 15 to February 1.
He's exciting. You like him. Then you want to be a little brave and try to give him a chance before he moves out to Europe, because the guy has something. We hope he continues to make strides. We'll see how much we can get from him, he says.
Sweden's preparations for the European Championship include two friendly matches against Brazil, in Jönköping on January 5 and in Partille two days later. On January 17, the European Championship premiere awaits against the Netherlands and then the group stage continues against Georgia and Croatia. Sweden's matches will be played in Malmö Arena.
The final game will be played in Herning, Denmark.
Facts: Sweden's European Championship squad
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Goalkeepers: Mikael Appelgren, Veszprem, Andreas Palicka, Kolstad, Fabian Norsten, Aalborg.
Left sex: Hampus Wanne, Høj, Jerry Tollbring, Esbjerg.
Middle six: Max Darj, Füchse Berlin, Felix Möller, Aalborg, Oscar Bergendahl, Magdeburg.
Right-back: Daniel Pettersson, Magdeburg, Sebastian Karlsson, Paris Saint-Germain.
Left back nine: Jonathan Carlsbogård, Barcelona, Nikola Roganovic, Malmö, Eric Johansson, Kiel.
Middle nine: Felix Claar, Magdeburg, Jim Gottfridsson, Pick Szeged, Axel Månsson, Kristianstad.
Right nine: Albin Lagergren, Magdeburg, Lukas Sandell, Rhein-Neckar Löwen.
