Germany’s captain Golla
“He is the heart of the team”
January 29, 2026 – 4:45 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
In recent years, Johannes Golla has made himself indispensable for German handball players. His role in the team now goes beyond sports.
With an emphatic praise, Germany’s handball goalkeeper Andreas Wolff expressed a very special appreciation to his teammate Johannes Golla. “The importance of Johannes is difficult to put into words. He is an emotional leader,” Wolff began about the captain of the German selection. “He’s simply the heart of the team.”
Even back then, Golla was “very mature for his age,” calm and always finding the right words. Wolff was particularly impressed by how the 28-year-old leads the young players: “On the one hand, he manages to calm the boys down and, on the other hand, remind them that we have to go full throttle here,” said Wolff, with a view to the European Handball Championships.
Golla has been leading the DHB team as captain since the beginning of November 2021. The circle runner is the anchor of the German team on the pitch and has recently been considered indispensable at major tournaments such as the World Championships. Now he also gets more breaks. With Julian Köster, Justus Fischer and the European Championship newcomers Matthes Langhoff and Tom Kiesler, national coach Alfred Gíslason has alternatives that take the pressure off the captain.
Wolff nevertheless emphasized: “He is tireless at the front and works hard, even trying one-on-one actions as a pivot.” In defense, Golla “naturally keeps the shop together.” Wolff called the interaction with defense specialist Köster “fantastic”.
When the semi-final against Croatia takes place on Friday evening, Golla will once again be in the center as one of the central figures in the DHB team. But his role now goes beyond sports. The 28-year-old, who is moving from Flensburg to Melsungen in the summer, is the contact person for many of his teammates.
European Championship debutants seek advice from him. “It’s also about very banal things like the correct dress code or the distance from our hotel to the hall in Herning,” said Golla in the sports show podcast “Handball auf die 1”. As an intermediary between the team and those responsible, he regularly exchanges ideas with manager Benjamin Chatton and national coach Gíslason.
