Although Joachim Loew claims that his team play on the same level as the Spanish ahead of Wednesday's exciting World Cup semi-final

Before the start of the tournament, the Germany manager claimed that his team were ready to play a brand of football which would 'tear opposition teams apart'. Despite this, the bookmakers didn't have Die Mannschaft among the favourites, although Joachim Loew has been true to his word.

Nobody could have predicted that the Germans would score four times against both England and Argentina en route to the semi-finals. They have now set up a repeat of the Euro 2008 final against Spain, with Loew claiming that his team are now on the same level as their opponents:

"Spain in the past two years has been a very solid team with a lot of stability. They play within a system that functions much better than that of Argentina's.

"They are one of the most dominant teams in the world, but things are different from 2008. At that time, they were superior, but now we are more even. We have an opportunity to beat Spain now that we are on the same level".

Many people expect Germany's momentum to ease them past Spain when the two teams meet on Wednesday and William Hill currently offer an eye-catching 19/10 that they win in normal time.