What's German for "angst?" Joking aside, it's hard to contemplate any other footballing nation being this good at fearing the worst ahead of every single World Cup.
In 2006, injury doubts about Philipp Lahm (elbow) and Michael Ballack (calf) coincided with wide-scale panic about the defence. Writing as a columnist for Bild, Paul Breitner even advised national manager Jürgen Klinsmann to re-instate a sweeper system with Jens Nowotny as the "libero" at the back. Four years later, Ballack's absence in South Africa -- Kevin-Prince Boateng had fouled him badly in the FA Cup final between Chelsea and Portsmouth in May 2010 -- gave rise to plenty of apocalyptic thoughts.
The upshot: Germany made it to third place in both tournaments.
This time around, no-one has yet dared to write about the doomsday scenario: a group stage exit. But less than a month ahead of the first game against Portugal, the injury situation is objectively much worse than before previous tournaments. It's not just one or two key players who are affected, either; the fault line runs right through Joachim Loew's proposed first XI.
Keeper Manuel Neuer injured his shoulder and won't join up with the rest of players at their South Tyrol base before the end of the weekend at the earliest. Skipper Philipp Lahm, who was initially supposed to travel to Italy on Wednesday despite an ankle complaint, changed his mind and was allowed to stay at home a little longer. He might come on Friday, but it's not certain.
Bastian Schweinsteiger is there but is trying to shake off tendinitis in one knee and can't play at the moment. His midfield colleague Sami Khedira is with Real Madrid and has to prove his fitness in the Champions League final against Atletico in Lisbon, of all games. And what about striker Miroslav Klose? What shape is the soon-to-be 36-year-old in after missing large chunks of the season at Lazio? Nobody knows. {C}{C}
Only Per Mertesacker's absence is neither bad news nor a serious source of concern -- the Arsenal defender is with his family after becoming a father for the second time.
Lahm has vowed to Bild that he'll be fit in time for the World Cup, but the prognosis for him and the others is far from clear. On Tuesday, Loew had told reporters that both his captain and Neuer would be there on Day 1 of the training camp to foster good team spirit within the group, only for the latest medical bulletins to scupper that plan.
Khedira's return to form in the wake of a six-month absence following a cruciate ligament injury is far from given, while Schweinsteiger wasn't even quite at his best before he picked up his latest complaint. Loew's idea to pick 27 players for the camp already looks like a prudent decision.
A starting XI without Neuer, Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Khedira and Klose is severely weakened but conceivable. Roman Weidenfeller, Kevin Grosskreutz, Lars Bender, Toni Kroos and Mario Goetze could take up their respective places, so even the worst case doesn't have to amount to premature failure in the group of death. But the real impact is likely to be felt in less obvious ways.
Throughout the year, general manager Oliver Bierhoff and Loew have been at pains to stress the importance of a strong collective ethos and the need to become a team -- in a football sense -- during intense weeks of training. That point sounds pedantic but is crucial to the men in charge. Some luxury resorts in Brazil were in fact rejected by the German FA because they afforded the players too much space to be alone. They want them to mingle. Campo Bahia, their team hotel, will have six players sharing each bungalows. Everything is being done to prevent the formation of cliques.
Loew has talked incessantly about Khedira's ability to bring the dressing room together, which shows you just how bad the problem was two years ago in the Euros and in some of the World Cup qualifiers. On and off the record, senior players have warned their teammates to leave their egos off the plane to Brazil. Germany might have the best squad in recent memory, but there's a tipping point where increased competition can become counter-productive if benched players don't suppress their disappointment. {C}{C}
The second point is even more important, however. Germany's secret in 2010 -- and in 2012, before everything came crashing down in the defeat against Italy -- was that they played like a club team, with a cohesion and sense of purpose that is all too often missing in international football. How did they do it? Unlike some of his peers who tend to pick 11 good players and let them figure out the rest for themselves, Loew drilled them incessantly in pre-tournament training.
"Before every tournament, the defence is being criticised, but we work hard in training and then we always improve," Mertesacker told ESPN back in the autumn. Bierhoff, too, has emphasised the need to practice specific parts of the game, including dead-ball situations and efficient finishing in the opposition box, two of the team's weaknesses.
But with half the preferred starting XI missing on day one in Passeiertal (Val Passiria in Italian), bringing harmony to proceedings on and off the pitch will now be that much more difficult for Loew. The 54-year-old is tasked to complete a jigsaw with large chunks missing from the box. Whereas before there would have been a quiet confidence that everything would come together despite these worries -- it always does, doesn't it? -- the success of "Operation: World Cup" has become just a little more doubtful.
The only silver lining of this false start for Loew and his team is that expectations at home will be a bit lower now. But that's scant consolation.