A nation's footballing obsessions are often exposed by big, traumatic defeats. But in Germany's case, a lacklustre 0-0 draw with Poland was enough.
In a column following Thursday's game for Cologne-based tabloid Express, Michael Ballack, who is also working at Euro 2016 as a pundit for ESPN, reiterated a criticism that has dogged this group of players for many years: There was "a lack of character and personality" in Germany's game.
Ballack wondered whether Joachim Low's team had "the type of players [with] the mentality to force a change of the game" away from "their weakness: They always want to play beautifully and carry the ball into the net.