Basketball professional Justus Hollatz was injured almost a week before the start of the World Cup in Japan.
The 22-year-old point guard fell to the ground in Abu Dhabi’s friendly against Greece and was unable to get up on his own due to an ankle injury.
Two supervisors then accompanied the limping Hollatz into the dressing room. There was no precise diagnosis at first.
The World Cup starts on August 25th, Germany is playing the preliminary round in Okinawa against co-hosts Japan, Australia and Finland.
For national coach Gordon Herbert, a failure would inevitably mean a rescheduling. The 64-year-old had already decided on his squad and only took twelve professionals with him to the World Cup preparatory games in Abu Dhabi. From there, the team travels directly to Japan.
Oscar da Silva (FC Barcelona) and Leon Kratzer (Paris Basketball) were the last players to be left out of the squad.
Both players are out of the question as a replacement for Hollatz, as they don’t play as a build-up, but directly under the basket.