Germany coach Joachim Low today insisted his team will not be motivated by revenge when they take on Spain in Wednesday's semi-final in Johannesburg.
The teams have not met since Spain's 1-0 win in the Euro 2008 Final in Vienna but Low believes circumstances have changed since then.
Low said: "We are not playing for revenge, those are not the kind of feelings I harbour. In 2008, there is no doubt that Spain were the best team at the tournament.
"They have shown great consistency and always played at the highest possible level. So they have certainly been impressive.
"But now the situation is different. We too have a good team and we have every reason to believe that we can succeed."
Germany, the tournament's top scorers with 13 goals, humiliated England in the second round before thrashing Argentina in the quarter-finals to claim a semi-final place and are many experts' favourites to win a fourth World Cup.
But despite Germany's impressive form in South Africa, Low believes Spain will give them the toughest test so far.
He said: "Spain remain the natural World Cup favourites. They not only have one Messi, but they have several Messis.
"They have a whole range of players that can win a game, so we will have to be very watchful against them.
"They are a team that make very few mistakes. We have to force them into making mistakes."
Although Low respects his semi-final opponents, the Germany coach is confident his young team can continue their thrilling run.
"Spain are very strong as a unit, both in offense and defense and tactically they are very good. But at the moment we are capable of beating everyone."
Player of the tournament so far, Bastian Schweinsteiger, is confident Germany can beat Spain and reach the World Cup Final for the second time in three tournaments.
Schweinsteiger said: "We have different players now, while Spain is almost the same. Maybe they have not shone at the tournament, but they have played very strongly over the past few years.
"Spain will be tougher than England or Argentina, but we've shown that we can be very good."
