Lorenzo Micelli to lead Sweden at World Championship debut

Lorenzo Micelli is the new head coach of the Swedish women’s national team, which has two exciting seasons lined up ahead, with its historic FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship debut coming up in August and the hosting of this year’s CEV European Golden League Final Four and one of next year’s CEV European Championship pools.

54-year-old Italian Micelli takes over the current number 24 in the FIVB World Ranking from another Italian, Giulio Bregoli, who steered Sweden to the European Golden League trophy last year and later landed a job as the head coach of the German national team.

“I feel proud! Being appointed as the head coach of the Swedish women's national volleyball team is a great honour. It is a wonderful and exciting challenge and there are many reasons why I am taking it on,” Lorenzo Micelli told volleyboll.se. “Partly, it is about the squad and the players I have the opportunity to work with. There is a special light around this team. Partly, it is about what awaits us at the World Championship and that we will get to play the European League Final Four and the European Championship on Swedish soil in front of our supporters, a fantastic experience that we should all look forward to and benefit from, both on and off the court. I am going into this wholeheartedly and want to help grow the sport and take this national team further on its development journey. I believe in the project and will give my all for the girls, the national team and the volleyball country of Sweden.”

Micelli’s previous national team job was with Bulgaria, whom he coached for the last three seasons. Before that, he was at the helm of Estonia. He also had several years of previous experience as an assistant coach of Italy and as such he won the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Cup in 2007, the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Grand Champions Cup in 2009 and the women’s CEV European Championships in 2007 and 2009 among many other national team podiums, including two silvers and four bronzes in the FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix.

For the most part, Micelli’s career as a head coach has involved leading club teams. Currently, he is in charge of Olympiacos Piraeus, whom he steered to the national cup and, most recently, to the national super cup crowns in Greece. His previous clubs include France’s Volero Le Cannet, Italy’s Volley Bergamo, with whom he won two continental trophies in the CEV Champions League, Poland’s Atom Trefl Sopot, with whom he reached the final of the CEV Cup, as well as Türkiye’s Eczacibasi VitrA Istanbul, Poland’s DevelopRes Rzeszow and several Italian teams, with numerous domestic trophies and medals under his belt.

“It is with joy and pride that we can present Lorenzo Micelli as the new head coach of the women's national team. His qualifications from both club and national teams speak for themselves,” commented Angelica Ljungqvist, sports director at Svensk Volleyboll. “With his great knowledge and broad experience, he will be an incredible asset as the team takes the next step in its development and faces new exciting challenges. Together with Lorenzo, we want to continue the great progress that has been made in recent years. We believe that the individual players, as well as the team as a whole, can continue to grow under his leadership.”

Micelli is set to make his official debut on the new job in late May, when Sweden host a European League tournament and play against Portugal and Romania. Later in the pool stage of the competition, they will meet Croatia, Spain, Ukraine and Slovakia on the road, before organizing late June’s Final Four event in Engelholm. At the World Championship set to take place in August and September, Sweden will share Pool A with hosts Thailand, the Netherlands and Egypt.

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