| With Germany in the throes of economic stagnation and political infighting, the only thing that could lift Europe’s largest economy out of the doldrums, it seems, is success in football at its home tournament. German national football coaches, known as Bundestrainer, usually have a difficult job. The country is said to have “83 million Bundestrainer” – i.e. all of its population – so the coach has to justify decisions against a country full of people who think they know better. For Julian Nagelsmann, the current Bundestrainer, however, the task will be particularly challenging. With the European Football Championship hosted by Germany starting today, it seems like the country’s whole sentiment hinges on how far he can lead the national team. And the mood is pretty bad. Germany likes to see itself as an economic powerhouse – or even Exportweltmeister (the world’s export champion) – but it has been cursed with economic stagnation ever since Russia’s attack on Ukraine forced it to decouple from Russian gas supply. The coalition government is unpopular, as it spent the last two and a half years infighting and, as many see it, restricting people’s freedom in what Green Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck called a “test” for how far the population is willing to go in tackling climate change. Fears dominate the public discourse. A representative survey of voters in the European election saw concerns over declining living standards (50% of respondents) not even making the top spot, remaining behind fears of too much immigration (53%), too much change (56%), restrictions on freedom of speech (58%), too much influence from Islam (61%), climate change (66%), and crime (74%). | 