MOSCOW -- Predictably, the German ambassador had to get involved in this, the most political of World Cups and, on Monday, he did.
The ambassador for Germany's Euro 2024 bid, to give him his official title, happens to be the World Cup-winning captain of four years ago, but Philipp Lahm commented on the Nationalmannschaft's awful defeat to Mexico with such diplomatic finesse that one could be forgiven for thinking the 34-year-old had recently graduated from the foreign ministry's school for international emissaries in Berlin.
Lahm pleaded for calmness and positivity, telling ESPNFC that "a negative result can have a positive effect" and that he trusted manager Joachim Low and his equally experienced team to jointly "find solutions" for the tactical malaise.
As a representative of the German FA in Russia, Lahm was naturally careful not to fan the flames of the critics' fire. However, buried beneath the polished party lines were just the slightest hints that things might be more difficult than he could publicly admit. "The core of the team need to find a common path and stand united," Lahm said. But what if they don't agree on the former, and thus won't do the latter?
In 2014, when Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira were vying for one of three central midfield positions -- Lahm and Toni Kroos occupied the others -- in the group stage, Germany's fabled team spirit was tested. Eventually, Lahm moved back to his customary role as right-back and that natural solution saw all the strife forgotten. However, it might not be so easy this time.
There are strategic and personal considerations that need addressing, because not everybody in the starting XI will share Manuel Neuer's view that Germany getting atomised in the centre by El Tri was mostly a question of "readiness and commitment" on behalf of the midfield. As Suddeutsche Zeitung noted on Tuesday, "benching the power-conscious Khedira would be logical but not without danger for the mood in the camp".
Lahm puts his faith in Low to make the right adjustments and maintains that Germany remain "a force to reckon with" at this World Cup. But he also has his eye on a different prize: winning hearts and minds ahead of September's decision by the UEFA executive committee on who will host the European Championship six years from now.
As it happens, Turkey is the other bidder, which adds another facet to the "Erdogan affair" that has dogged the Germany team going into this tournament. It stems from Ilkay Gundogan and Mesut Ozil -- both born in the German city of Gelsenkirchen but of Turkish descent -- posing for photos with Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the Turkish president's visit to London, for which the midfielders were criticised.
Lahm did not want to speculate upon how he would have handled the issue as captain, but says there were two parts of the story that should be seen as separate: the meeting itself and its impact upon the rest of the Germany squad.
"I believe many players say that was not the right thing to," he said. "People were talking about it. But after a while, that's it, as far as the team were concerned. They know how valuable these players are for them. They have proven that they identify 100 percent with the team. They are integrated in the team and have always performed well. That, for their teammates, is the most important thing, above everything else."
The German FA are privately hopeful that UEFA introducing new human rights requirements, to which bidding nations must adhere, will be to their advantage for the 2024 decision. But how does their much-vaunted commitment to social responsibility play out in Russia?
"I spoke to the German ambassador (in Russia)," Lahm said. "He told me that it was very important to come here and talk to people, much better than saying: 'We want nothing to do with these guys.' Meeting people gives you a chance to put your point of view across."
Lahm admitted he was unsure about the real impact of such dialogue, considering that everybody's main concern is the World Cup. But the situation in Russia has brought the sharp contrast with his home country into focus.
"Going to a place where its citizens enjoy restricted rights makes you realise how lucky we are to have a functioning democracy and the rule of law," he said. "That should act as an incentive for us, as far as Euro 2024 is concerned."