Bierhoff fears the onset of his underdog days

Wales defeat rams home new realities for a nation used to sitting at the top table

There is something confusing, if a little satisfying, about Germany starting a major tournament as rank outsiders. Once near-certainties for the semi-finals every time they played a European Championship or World Cup, Rudi Völler's squad are hoping just to reach the second round this time. If their penultimate warm-up match is anything to go by, they may struggle to achieve even that.

The 1-0 defeat by Wales on Tuesday was a shock, no matter how much the players and management try to play it down. They may have had three Bayer Leverkusen players missing because of the Champions' League final, but that does not explain why a team packed with world-class talents were so devoid of ideas. The German media were certainly struggling to explain the abject showing. After Robert Earnshaw's winning goal 18 seconds into the second half, most visiting journalists were trying to understand what had happened. "So you're saying he plays in your Third Division?" was the most common question. "Mein Gott!"

Not surprisingly, few of the players were prepared to discuss the débâcle as they boarded the bus afterwards. Only the man who started up front was willing to face the inquisition. "That was a wake-up call for us," the 34-year-old Oliver Bierhoff said. "Big time. Wales play very much in the same way as the Republic of Ireland [whom Germany meet in the group stages of the World Cup], with a tall striker up front and pace on the wings, so we need to buck up our ideas."

The Monaco striker, who scored the winning Golden Goal in the Euro '96 final against the Czech Republic, had an ineffectual night. He was not alone.

The defence, which alternated from four to five, included the German championship-winning pair of Christoph Metzelder and Jorg Heinrich from Borussia Dortmund, as well Tottenham's Christian Ziege and Bayern Munich's Thomas Linke. If the Welsh duo of John Hartson and Earnshaw can cause such players so many problems, Niall Quinn and Robbie Keane will be feeling very confident ahead of the probable group decider on 5 June. "The Irish finished ahead of the Dutch to qualify so they will certainly be a threat," said Bierhoff, who has scored 36 goals in 64 games for his country. "We will have to win our first match against Saudi Arabia so that we can play a lot calmer against Ireland."

Calm has been a commodity in short supply within German ranks of late, as former players have been giving vent to theiropinions. Franz Beckenbauer has never really stopped interfering since he stepped down as national manager 12 years ago. Last season, he campaigned to have Bierhoff removed as captain. Völler eventually complied, handing the arm-band to goalkeeper Oliver Kahn. Gunter Netzer, now a TV commentator, has also been a critic. "They were just whacking the ball and hoping it would land in a good spot," he said after the loss to Wales. "There's no philosophy; there's no strategy; there's no system; there's nothing at all. It was truly frightening."

In truth, Germany's decline has been steady. Following nearly two decades of domination they have forgotten how to perform on the big stage. Germany's last two World Cups have ended in embarrassment, as Bulgaria and then Croatia inflicted heavy defeats on ageing teams in 1994 and 1998. Their prospects this year look no better, as Völler's patched-up group stumbled into the finals via a two-leg play-off victory over the Ukraine, and have since failed to impress in friendlies.

Völler, who swept to power on the back of a Kevin Keegan-like wave of popularity, agreed there was much to do if Germany were to have an impact in the Far East. "The attitude was not satisfactory," he said. "But some of the players were coming back from injury and we could see they were not in great form." The Bayern Munich-bound Sebastian Deisler has missed most of the season through injury and looked overweight, while Liverpool's Dietmar Hamann appeared tired.

A warning, however. Germany are masters at reaching major events playing below par. So far as the former Tottenham striker, Jürgen Klinsmann, is concerned, Völler's men are capable of reaching the last four again. "This team are on course to find their own identity and spirit," he said. "Maybe they have the potential to go to the semis. Of course, it would have been better to put in a good performance against Wales, but I don't think this is a drama." Not yet, anyhow.