Long-term unemployment dropped by 40% in 2007 and 2008, the first big retreat in absolute numbers since the 1960s, notes Joachim Möller, director of IAB, the federal employment agency's research unit.
Joachim Löw's team may have lacked the star names of their South American rivals, but they were always the more dangerous side here, with the scoreline, even at 4-0, anything but flattering.
Joachim Wuttke, a teacher of computer science in Germany, is one such sceptic.
"Lukas must rest for two or three days, but should we progress in the tournament it won't be a problem for him to play," said Joachim Löw.
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, is attending the service along with the president, Joachim Gauck; the president of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hannelore Kraft; Spain's transport minister, Ana Pastor Julián; and France's foreign minister, Laurent Fabius.
West Germany had existed as an entity since 1949, but the historian Joachim Fest reckoned the day of the game marked the "true birth of the country".
Joachim Löw's team may have been convincing winners in Bloemfontein but Capello maintains the outcome would have been different had Frank Lampard's shot that hit the bar and crossed the line at 2-1 stood.
Germany's coach Joachim Loew has work to do during half-time.
