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Important back and front: Johannes Golla, a cyclist
Photo: Herbert Bucco / imago images / Herbert Bucco
The German handball players have been in their team hotel in Cairo since Wednesday, and it should be very tight.
32 teams are accommodated in four hotels, plus referees, officials and journalists.
Little space, many people - unfortunately these are only ideal conditions for the coronavirus.
But not for a sporting event in the midst of the pandemic.
Little space is not particularly inviting for handball players, who tend to be in the form of a closet.
And that brings us to Johannes Golla.
Sometimes his teammates ask him how he can actually do this position, says Kreisläufer Golla.
Having to keep fighting, to defend oneself against hidden small fouls, to take but also to deal out, to organize the defensive and then to fight clear paths for the other players in the attack.
"To let yourself be beaten up by the enemy for 60 minutes," as Golla tells SPIEGEL.
Often others get the applause when they have a nice offensive action, the circle is important, but it usually has to remain invisible.
Actually, it has to be a wrecking ball with a velvet cover that creates space and blocks while being reasonably careful with the opponent so as not to risk an offensive foul or a time penalty.
Not so easy with 112 kilograms of combat weight and 1.95 meters in length.
These are the dimensions of Johannes Golla.
A real closet.
But Golla is quite happy to take on this demanding job and mix of block in defense and pioneer and sometimes also goal scorer in attack.
“I've been playing handball since I was five and have tried many positions, but I liked Kreisläufer best.
I'm going for it and I'm not too bad for anything, «says Golla shortly before the World Cup starts in Egypt, which begins for Germany in the evening with the first preliminary round against Uruguay (7 pm; TV: ARD).
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Speed counterattack against Austria (European Championship qualification), Golla completes successfully
Photo: Andreas Gora / imago images / Andreas Gora
Johannes Golla, 23 years old, is one of the still rather unknown figures in the DHB team, as for some others in the team, it will be the first world championship for the SG Flensburg-Handewitt player.
Golla was already part of the squad at the European Championships last year, and at that time he was nicknamed »Kampfsau« by German assistant coach Erik Wudtke.
But he still played a supporting role and actually nobody really calls him "fighting pig".
"The name might fit the style of play, but in my private life I'm more of the quiet type," he says.
The difficult succession
It shouldn't be quiet around Golla in the next few weeks, because he and his commands will be particularly important at the World Cup.
After all, he and his teammates have to close the gap that Patrick Wiencek and Hendrik Pekeler have left in the German defense.
So in the part of the team that has been considered the showpiece of German handball for years.
Now it's a construction site, and national coach Alfreð Gíslason has appointed Golla to be her boss.
It's not an easy legacy.
The duo Wiencek / Pekeler from Champions League winner THW Kiel has occupied the inner block at the past tournaments and "inspires worldwide respect" (quote from DHB board member Axel Kromer).
But because of the corona pandemic, Wiencek and Pekeler as well as other German national players are foregoing the World Cup, and some regular employees are missing due to injury.
A tough World Cup awaits the new man in the inner block, Golla, and the partly young, inexperienced German team.
Golla himself doesn't want to name a specific goal, he just hopes that the team will come together better from game to game.
Then success would come.
After the duel against World Cup newcomers Uruguay, another blatant outsider is waiting: Cape Verde.
The increase in the World Cup from 24 to 32 countries ensures that Golla and Co. have the opportunity to work in processes and get into the rhythm of the competition.
After the third and last preliminary round against the strong Hungary, you will get a first idea of where the way at this World Cup can lead.
This World Cup with all the question marks about the German team fits into the overall picture.
After all, it is the first major tournament with participants from all over the world during the corona pandemic, and there are doubts about how it will be carried out.
Golla also speaks of a »certain skepticism«, but he also trusts the hygiene concept on site.
In addition, some teammates have been made aware of the corona disease.
First the lockdown, then the metatarsal fracture
In November, the German back hope Juri Knorr was infected, and his club reported strong symptoms in the 20-year-old at the beginning.
He is now fully resilient again.
Teammates Marian Michalczik and Christian Dissinger also contracted Covid-19;
Dissinger was most recently removed from the final squad because he is said to be not fit enough for the World Cup after his illness and training breaks.
Johannes Golla's preparation was not without background noises.
At first, like all German handball, after the first lockdown in the spring, he had to pause the game for almost six months and mostly had to keep fit with individual training.
At the end of August he suffered a metatarsal fracture - another three months off.
"It was a hard time," says Golla, but now he doesn't waste a thought on the past few months.
He will need his strength to protect himself on the defensive and then there are also offensive tasks waiting for him.
Circle runner Johannes Golla wants to give his all at the World Cup, he says: “This team is ready to invest everything and Gislason is a coach who demands a lot.
It goes well together. «The first impressions of him and his teammates in the most recent qualifying games against the rather mediocre Austria gave us courage.
But from now on the tasks will get a little harder from game to game.
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