There is no easy group for the DFB squad

It's getting real: the German national soccer team will face Scotland, Hungary and Switzerland in the group stage of the home European Championship. The officials are practising humility after the draw. But is the group now feasible?

Immediately after the draw, DFB sports director Rudi Völler practiced humility. "We are in a situation where we respect everyone," he said on RTL after it was announced who the DFB team will be playing against next summer. The European Championship in their own country is no longer an abstract construct, now it's getting concrete: Scotland, Hungary and Switzerland. These are the first three hurdles on the way to getting through the preliminary round.

And Völler actually sounded relieved that it wasn't the Italians, Turkey or the Netherlands. In theory, it could have been worse. As the hosts, the DFB team was seeded among the strongest teams. It is more than doubtful whether they would have ended up there with a classic qualification. But at least they were able to avoid England, Spain and co. At the same time, Völler also conceded: The days of taking an opponent lightly are over. Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann, who was rather brief in his analysis, was relieved: "Not a group of death, but a very good group."

The problem is, however, and everyone involved knows this: in the current state of the national team, any group can quickly become a group of death. There should be no illusion that Scotland, Hungary and Switzerland are "doable" opponents. After all, the same was also true of the previous opponents Turkey (2:3), Austria (0:2) and Mexico (2:2). All opponents of a similar caliber to Germany's European Championship group. European Championship tournament director Philipp Lahm put it best before the draw. At the moment, the DFB team is finding all opponents difficult. He hopes that Nagelsmann's team will once again perform as a unit. And if anyone knows how important that is, it's probably Lahm.

The comparison with 2006

During the week, he gave a long interview to Deutschlandfunk. In addition to his vision that next summer's tournament should unite the country and the continent, he also talked about his own wealth of experience. He spoke about the preparations for the 2006 World Cup at home, where the world was supposed to be a guest of friends, but they were not doing very well in soccer beforehand.

The 2004 European Championship was already over in the group stage. And the run-up to the World Cup was also less than flattering. Germany lost against Slovakia and Turkey and drew against France. The mediocre preparation culminated in a 4:1 defeat against the eventual world champions Italy in March 2006. "I think you can compare it a bit," said Lahm, referring to today, "definitely." Everyone drew their conclusions from the defeat and put themselves at the service of the team. "That was a big key to success, that everyone then knew: This chance only comes once in a lifetime. This is a tournament in our own country."

Lahm is hoping for a similar moment of enlightenment with the current national team. However, after a terrible international year and several low points, this has not happened so far. In eleven games, there have only been three wins and only one game without conceding a goal. "What actually characterizes a team? What kind of cohesion is needed to play successful soccer? That's what I want from the current team too, from the coach, that he puts the players in the right positions, where they have experience," the 40-year-old continued on Deutschlandfunk radio.

Maybe everything will be completely different after all

Lahm did not say it explicitly, but it is clear who and what is meant. The honorary captain of the national team addressed national coach Nagelsmann directly and asked him to stop the experiments that his predecessor Hansi Flick had already stumbled over. Something like suddenly positioning attacking artist Kai Havertz at left-back. Because Lahm, the 2014 world champion, is worried about the national team and much worse: about the tournament in his own country.

The list of the national team's problems is now so long that hardly anyone has an overview. The initial euphoria under the new national team coach Nagelsmann has evaporated. Every time you thought you had reached the bottom, things went a little lower. The high against the USA (3:1) was followed by a slump against Turkey and then a total collapse against Austria. There is never enough time to solve all the problems - even Nagelsmann admitted that.

That's what makes the group with Scotland, Hungary and Switzerland so deceptive. The Scots will not only bring their fantastic fans to the opening game in Munich, but also a strong European Championship qualifying campaign. Steve Clark's team finished second in the group with Spain and Norway, beating the Spaniards in the process. Hungary had brought the DFB squad to the brink of chaos in the group stage of the last European Championship, with only Leon Goretzka's late 2:2 equalizer preventing an early elimination. They have now come through their qualifying group unbeaten.

And Switzerland? The national team only showed how difficult it is to play against its southern neighbors against Austria - especially when many Bundesliga professionals play there. Switzerland have always made it through the preliminary round at major tournaments since 2008. Perhaps it wouldn't have been so bad for the DFB team to have a big team in the group stage after all. Maybe then there would be a completely different tension. But maybe that's all nonsense. Maybe everything will be fine after all, because almost all of the third-placed teams will progress. And who knows? Maybe the DFB team will play themselves into a frenzy, just like they did in 2006.