Once the team around captain Philipp Lahm arrived at their Polish base camp, a five star hotel booked as early as possible in accordance of Germany's meticulous planning in the such cases, it was time for German football supremo Wolfgang Niersbach to look back.
With Bierhoff sitting next him as general manager of the team, Niersbach recalled the Wembley final of Euro 1996 in which Bierhoff came on as a substitute to score Germany's 1-1 equalizer against the Czech Republic and then the Golden Goal winner as well.
The goals kick-started a late career for Bierhoff who found fame and fortune outside Germany at club level in Austria and Italy, most notably at AC Milan.
He won 70 Germany caps between 1996 and 2002 and is now in his eighth year as national team general manager.
Bierhoff, 44, was taken on board by Juergen Klinsmann, the captain of the 1996 team who coached Germany from 2004 until the third-place finish at the 2006 World Cup.
Bierhoff did not have an easy start in his current role, mainly in the early years when he was considered arrogant or dismissed as an event manager.
The situation was similar in a way on the pitch.
Bierhoff left the Bundesliga after four years, scored 23 goals in his one season at Austria Salzburg and then moved on to the Serie A. He spent four years at Ascoli and during his next term at Udinese he became league top scorer with 27 goals.
That, as well as a late Germany debut at age 27 in early 1996 followed by the Wembley heroics and further goals for the national team, generated interest from mighty Milan who signed him for the then huge fee of 25 million marks (12.5 million euros) from 1998 until 2001.
Bierhoff netted 38 goals in 91 Serie A appearances for the Devils to underline his good status as a striker which also saw him grab 37 Germany goals.
Many people thought it was luck, Bierhoff said in reference to the Euro winner. But I proved in the following years that this wasn't the case.
After all, Bierhoff is credited with the fatest hat-trick in Germany history when he came on as a substitute in a 1998 World Cup qualifier against Northern Ireland and scored three times within the next six minutes.
Now Germany has the likes of Miroslav Klose (with whom Bierhoff played at the 2002 World Cup) and Mario Gomez up front and Bierhoff hopes that the class of 2012 can live up to the huge expectations.
The tension has never been as big because I know that the expectations are very high among us in the DFB, the fans and the team, said Bierhoff.
This team has a lot of potential ... But the higher expectations get, the bigger the risk to be disappointed.
