Germany's 'perfect-mix' ripe for title, says Lahm

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Germany's 'perfect-mix' ripe for title, says Lahm

Captain Philipp Lahm says Germany must use their experience on the big stage to beat Argentina and finally lift a major title in Sunday's World Cup final.

Having finished third at both South Africa 2010 and on home soil in 2006 the Germans can finally end their 24-year wait for a fourth World Cup title at Rio de Janeiro's Maracana Stadium.

Lahm, who has twice lost World Cup semi-finals and the Euro 2008 final, says Germany's Class of 2014 have the necessary maturity to bring the title home.

Six of Germany's starting line-up won the 2013 Champions League title with Bayern Munich and all have experience in the competition's later stages, which Lahm says is key.

"We have a generation of players who are well versed. We have matured and developed together," the 30-year-old Bayern star said on Friday.

"The squad is full of players who are key pillars for big club sides in the Champions League.

"Confidence is very high and we have the perfect mix.

"The national team has shown we are good at preparing, but it remains to be seen if we can now reap the rewards.

"We have the chance to take the title back to Germany and are determined to repeat our semi-final performance."

Germany forward Thomas Mueller has five World Cup goals to his credit, one short of Colombia's top-scorer James Rodriguez, but retaining the Golden Boot is not his priority.

"It's only relevant in that the more goals I score for Germany, the higher our chance of winning the title," said the 24-year-old.

"We'll throw in everything we have, both mentally and physically, we'll fight and put our foot to the floor.

"When I ring home, I tell my family that we are only doing well here so that they can celebrate with barbecues, so we're hoping to extend the parties," he quipped.

"We'll pull out all the stops."

Mueller, who netted a hat-trick in Germany's 4-0 opening group stage win over Portugal, expects a tight, tense final.

If all else fails, Mueller says Germany can rely on their talents at deadball situations, although only four of Germany's 17 goals in Brazil have so far come from free-kicks or corners.

"I expect Germany to be very busy with build-up play," said Mueller.

"The midfield will have to distribute balls quickly into the forwards with fast, short passes.

"We need to spring a surprise on Argentina and use our wingers, if that doesn’t work, we’ll score from a free-kick or corner, we seem to be the kings of those at the moment."

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2014-07-12