As a greeting, he says "Gude" - and with that it becomes immediately clear that the goalkeeper of the American national handball team is half Hessian.
Nico Robinson, 23 years old, 1.90 tall, weighs 84 kilos, comes from Wiesbaden and usually plays for TuS Dotzheim in the Oberliga.
But in the coming days he will represent his father's country at the World Cup in Sweden, who was once stationed as a soldier in Rammstein and Wiesbaden.
Achim Dreis
sports editor.
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"I function," says Robinson easily when asked what a premier league goalkeeper does at a World Cup - or vice versa, why a World Cup goalkeeper acts at the Hessian amateur level.
"I can adapt to both worlds," says the German-American, who works as an insurance broker for a living.
Two years ago he had already tried to establish himself permanently in the larger of the two handball worlds.
Robinson joined the Norwegian giants Elverum Idrettslag, who even play in the Champions League.
And at the 2021 World Cup he was scheduled to be the number one goalkeeper for the Americans.
But then the US team was excluded from the tournament due to a massive corona outbreak and Robinson later had to undergo several surgeries due to health problems.
The Elverum adventure came to an end quickly, but not the dream of great sport.
And the keeper, who returned to Wiesbaden, was promptly nominated again for the current World Cup in Sweden and Poland – this time as number two behind Pál Merkovski, who normally plays in the first Hungarian league.
Since handball does not play a major role in the United States and there is not even a national league, the entire World Cup squad is filled with dual nationals.
"We're an international group," says Robinson happily.
But the ragtag team has a bigger goal.
The USA is set to host the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles – and Robinson would be in his prime.
In the meantime, he is looking forward to his World Cup debut this Friday (6 p.m.) in Jönköping against Morocco.
"I'll definitely get playing times," said the goalkeeper, confident of being able to make his contribution.
It is the most important group game in the fight for third place, which entitles you to enter the main round.
Should the Americans win, it would be "historic," which is not even meant in typical American exuberance.
The US handball players have been in six World Cup tournaments so far and have not been able to win a single one.
"It's doable this time," says Nico Robinson, who can count on support at home.
His bosses at the insurance agency also used to play handball – and gave him the whole month off.