Even the jingoist tabloid press had to admit that Germany’s semi-final defeat by Italy on Tuesday night had burst the bubble of national self-confidence.

“We are crying with you,” the splash headline of the mass circulation Bild Zeitung read under a photograph of the weeping Jürgen Klinsmann, the national team manager.

The Germans still hope that they will secure third place on Saturday ,but the tub-thumping patriotism of the past month has become very muffled indeed. President Köhler urged Germany not to plunge into depression but to hang on to its new national pride.

“We should remember this even after the World Cup: we know now where we belong, we treasure our homeland and we feel responsible for ourselves,” said the President, who watched Germany v Italy in the Dortmund stand alongside Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, and Romano Prodi, the Italian Prime Minister. “If we hang on to that, we can achieve a great deal. We have to find the courage to try something new.”

The World Cup has broken through 60 years of German inhibition about openly demonstrating national sentiment. The flag has been displayed everywhere, from shops to trams and underwear. Germans have started to belt out the national anthem without stumbling over the words.

But the question has always been: what will happen to this seemingly new national confidence if the team fails to become world champion? Since the 1950s, winning — rather than the style of play — has been the main criterion of German success. Defeat always led to agonised recrimination; victory to a short-lived surge of apologetic celebration.

Today the flags look a little forlorn, like a suddenly out-of-date fashion accessory. One of the few casualties in the mournful night that followed the Italy match was a 21-year-old woman in Speyer, western Germany, who fell off a balcony while trying to take down her flag. She was only lightly bruised.

Whether the same can be said of the rest of Germany remains to be seen. Metin Celik, a Dortmund jeweller, was a supporter of Turkey. When his favoured country failed to qualify he, like many hundreds of thousands of immigrants, transferred his loyalty to Germany, his adopted homeland.

“I’ll keep up the German flag until the final,” he said today. “I don’t know what will happen then.”

Turks and other immigrants are apprehensive about the new patriotism that has developed over the past month of football.

“The Germans are happy that we identify with them when we’re watching the games,” Ahmet Kalkan said. “But after the World Cup is over, maybe they will want to keep their patriotism for themselves and lock us out.”

Football stadium chauvinism has been following traditional rules. In Dortmund the German fans shouted: “You’re just pizza delivery boys!” The Italian team proceeded to deliver two goals in the last two minutes of extra time.

In the centre of Dortmund after the game, Sicilians and Calabresians yelled with pleasure at a restaurant. Germans were sitting on the kerb crying. Then they became angry at the Italian triumphalism and chanted: “No more pizza.” Waiters then offered them free slices and, by the end of a long night, the two fan communities were swapping flags.

“I am pleased that I’m not the only person with a German flag on my car,” Herr Köhler said today. “So many things have come together — the great mood, the sea of flags, the exciting games and the excellent organisation.”

As a result, Germany could take pride in its skills as the host, and this, too, could contribute to the new open patriotism. “There is suddenly this feeling that we can succeed,” Herr Köhler said, “that we can achieve things together.”

Police gave a broadly positive account of the match night, describing it as virtually crime-free. Not surprising, because it was watched on television by 30 million Germans and in public viewing areas by 16 million others. The police reported that they had detained dozens of fans, almost all of whom were released. One Germany fan had tried to stop an Italian victory parade. The fan was of Vietnamese origin.

“Leaving the game I got a sense that we are about to return to business as usual,” the novelist and football commentator Thomas Brussig said. The latest unemployment figures are scheduled to be announced in the next few days.

Explore Football

• Premier League

• Football League

• Scotland

• European Football

• International Football

• TheGame

• Live Match Tracker

• The Fink Tank

• Fantasy Football