Former Germany international Gunter Netzer feels the Germany national team has taken a step backwards since the end of the 2006 World Cup.He has warned expectations should not be too high ahead of Euro 2008, where Germany will start out as one of the favourites.

"The performances of the national team and the players are not the same as those in the last few years," he said via his column in the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

"We would be deceiving ourselves by believing that everything will just slot into place.

"We need to be highly vigilant."

Writing in the same newspaper, former Germany midfielder Stefan Effenberg claimed that the national team "is being overestimated".

"You can not always hope that Germany come into their own in a major tournament," he added.

"It was more than a clear signal that we only came second in our qualifying group."

Germany have been drawn in Group B with Poland, Croatia and co-hosts Austria.

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