On Thursday, Germany's much-touted U17 team will not only attempt to reach the quarterfinals of the World Cup in Chile, they will also try to salvage a year that held great promise for the German game but has so far been rather disappointing.
The U17 World Cup is the fifth major tournament at junior level this year. For the first time ever, Germany was represented at every single one -- and were usually among the favourites to win. But as of yet, none of the teams managed to claim a title.
In May, Germany's U17s reached the final of the European Championships. Although their opponent France were very strong, the final result, a 4-1 defeat, came as a letdown.
"We're still proud of the team, although some didn't play to their best level," coach Christian Wuck said.
Later that month, the U20 World Cup began in New Zealand. Many tipped Germany, coached by Frank Wormuth, to go all the way, although the side's stated aim was the semifinal. The team scored 16 goals in their three group games and then knocked out Nigeria to reach the quarterfinals against Mali on June 14. Leverkusen's Julian Brandt put his side ahead in the first half, and on 56 minutes, Germany were awarded a penalty.
But midfielder Hany Mukhtar, then on Benfica's books, missed from the spot and Germany went on to lose the game on penalties. "We can go home with our heads held high," Wormuth said.
"I'm proud of my team, which played very well at this tournament. The key moment was the penalty we wasted."
While Wormuth's U20s suffered a shock defeat, Germany's U21 team travelled to the European Championships in Sweden as the side you had to beat. And, boy, did they get beat. In the semis against Portugal, Germany conceded four goals in 21 minutes and lost 5-0. It was the biggest defeat in the team's history.
"No matter the opponent, you can't lose 5-0," midfielder Joshua Kimmich said after the game. "If we had given our all, we wouldn't have suffered such a hiding. They had so many chances, we had nothing."
During the following month, the national U19 team contested the European Championships. It was certainly the tournament for which the German hopes were the slimmest, although the side went to Greece as defending titleholders.
National coach Marcus Sorg simply had too many problems, not least because clubs were reluctant to send their most talented players away in the middle of the preseason preparations.
Sorg had to make do without budding stars like Max Meyer. What's worse, there was no proper preparation. The squad came together in Frankfurt on July 2 and left for Greece the next day.
Despite all these bad omens, the team were unlucky not to survive the group stage. All four sides finished level on points and Germany went out on goal difference. "Our disappointment is relatively big," Sorg said.
"But the boys showed a good mentality in every game and gained some invaluable experience during the tournament."
It's notoriously difficult to predict what will happen during tournaments at the youth level, as young players tend to be erratic and can easily be overwhelmed by the occasion. Yet it's safe to say the German Football Association (DFB) had secretly hoped that at least one of those five teams would bring silverware home.
The U17s are now the last hope. Should they fulfill their promise and lift the trophy, it would be a historic triumph. After all, no German team has ever won the World Cup at this level. In 2007 (when the team featured Toni Kroos) and in 2011 (when Emre Can was in the side), Germany finished third.
What's more, while German junior sides often do well in Europe -- in 2009, Germany became the first country to simultaneously hold all continental titles in youth football -- it's a different story on the world stage.
Germany have not won a youth football World Cup since 1981, when a West German team starring Michael Zorc, now Borussia Dortmund's director of football, and Roland Wohlfarth, Bayern Munich's most reliable marksman during the 1980s, lifted the U20 World Cup in Australia.
You could argue the point that the tournament six years later in 1987 marked an even bigger achievement for German football. An East Germany team with Matthias Sammer, the hugely talented Rico Steinmann and Dirk Schuster, now Darmstadt coach, finished third.
Meanwhile, the West German side, with Andreas Moller, a future Bundesliga stalwart like Knut Reinhardt and Michael Preetz, now Hertha Berlin's general manager, even reached the final, losing on penalties to Yugoslavia.
But that's no substitute for silverware. So the fact remains that no German team has celebrated a world championship at one of the junior levels in 34 years. U17 coach Wuck has history against him. He's unfazed, though.
"It's difficult to assess the other teams," he said two weeks ago. "I have watched a few DVDs, but by and large we don't have a lot of information. I think we can consider ourselves to be among the favourites."
When, a few days later, Wuck was asked for a more tangible aim, he admitted he wanted to reach the final.
"We haven't gone through all these hardships to go back home early," he said. "We want to reach the maximum and we definitely have the potential to make it far. I think a lot of this team, both in terms of their character and their football."
The team's most promising talent is probably captain Felix Passlack. In July, the versatile Borussia Dortmund player was awarded the Fritz Walter medal, which annually goes to the best players at the three junior levels (U17, U18 and U19). The last Dortmund player to win this honour was a certain Mario Gotze.
Another interesting player is Werder Bremen's striker Johannes Eggestein, who's rumoured to be on the radar of various English clubs. Eggestein scored four goals in the group stage as Germany easily defeated Australia and Argentina before suffering an unexpected defeat at the hands of Mexico to come second.
"Of course we would have liked to finish first," Wuck told the DFB's website. "But our performance wasn't good enough for that. And who knows what the defeat will be good for? Maybe it was a good point in time to bring us back down to earth."
The main reason Germany would have liked to finish first is that it would have postponed a date with France -- who humiliated Wuck's team 4-1 back in May -- until the last possible moment, the final.
Now Germany could meet the French as early as the semis. First, of course, they have to survive the round of 16 where they meet Croatia on Thursday afternoon, local time.