New team captain Stine Jørgensen will lead Denmark at EHF EURO 2016

Strong-willed, versatile, dedicated.

These are the adjectives used to characterise Stine Jørgensen by the people who have been following her career ever since she made her first international appearances in the Women’s EHF Champions League and the Danish national team in the 2009/10 season.

“She is a complete player. This s what makes her so valuable to our team,” says Denmark’s national coach Klavs Bruun Jørgensen about the 26-year-old who started out as left back but is used just as much as playmaker in the national team which she will lead to the Women's EHF EURO 2016 (4 to 18 December) as the newly appointed captain.

“She has a good shot, she is good at breaking through the opponents’ defence. She has a fine eye for her line player as well as for the rest of her teammates in attack, and she is also good in the defence.

“On court as well as off court, she appears as a leader and makes the correct decisions. She is strong-willed and very dedicated, and that is what we need from her,” Jørgensen says.

An impressive development

For the larger part of her national team career, Stine Jørgensen has been trained by Jan Pytlick and the former national team coach is impressed by the way she developed.

“From only covering the left back in defence, she has developed into also being able to play in the central defence as well as play the playmaker position in the attack – and she masters all these positions equally well.

“Her ability to read the game has also developed a lot over time, and in general, I would characterise her as a very clever player and reliable, as a player as well as a person,” says Jan Pytlick.

Personally, Stine Jørgensen is not quite sure if she is mainly a left back or a playmaker these days.

“I think I am a bit of both,” she responds. “At FC Midtjylland I play mainly on the left back, while I have played quite a lot as playmaker in the national team,” she said.

“The difference is not that big, as I often instigate our attacking play from the left back position in my club.”

Jørgensen knows what is expected of her as team captain.

“My role as a captain is to lead, of course, and that is what I am trying to do,” she says.

“I can also scold someone if necessary, but I do not like to have to do that,” she recently told the Danish TV station TV2 Sport.

Up for any task

At club level, Helle Thomsen was coaching Stine Jørgensen for four years at FC Midtjylland before being sacked as head coach before the start of this season. The Dane has now taken on the head coach role at the Netherlands’ women’s national team.

“Stine is a good girl who always gives the team priority over herself. As a player, she is complete.

“Apart from her shot, her breakthroughs, her eye for the line player and her defensive qualities on the back as well as in the centre, she is also good in counter attacks as well as at running back to defend.

“She is the kind of player who can solve any task you might need her to solve,” says Thomsen.

Could be one of the best in the world

Despite being such a complete handball player, Jørgensen still has shortcomings –at least according to the current national coach.

“I think she could still do something more about her physical training.

“She could still add some layers to her physical strength, and I believe that if she becomes stronger physically, she can actually become one of the best players in the world,” says Klavs Bruun Jørgensen.