It's Germany's title now...

New ruthless professionalism

The big psychological pothole in Germany's road at this point is that the dream-like win over Brazil in Tuesday's semifinal will leave them in Brazilian-style feverish expectation heading into Sunday's final in Rio.

After clinching one of the most historic results in football history, even a World Cup final could feel like an anti-climax. Germany have already overcome the hurdle of beating the hosts on home soil - and their semifinal jinx of the last two World Cups. What if, now that they've already achieved so much - more than they expected before the tournament - they shrink from the big prize, as they did against Spain in 2010 or Italy in 2006?

Sunday's final will certainly be a very different game to the spectacle of Belo Horizonte. Löw can expect Argentina to take the same tough, super-organized approach they did against the Netherlands, in which case Germany are likely to be denied the early goal that helped them so much against both France and Brazil.

But one thing that has marked out this German team in all the reports from Brazil is the ruthless professionalism they have displayed at every juncture. Team manager Oliver Bierhoff told reporters that in all his many tournaments as both player and backroom staffer, he had never seen a team celebrate a quarterfinal victory less than Joachim Löw's men.

The way that Manuel Neuer and his central defenders reacted to Brazil's stoppage-time goal on Tuesday bore witness to this new, burning focus in the German side. Whatever the giddy mood at home, there will be no euphoria in the German camp - they are a well-organized, efficient machine, and they don't mind ticking all those stereotypical boxes. This time they are here to get the job done.

New-old formation

During this tournament, Joachim Löw has come under real criticism in the German media for the first time since he took charge of the Nationalmannschaft in 2006. The dreary first-half performance against Algeria in the last 16 was a low point, with even German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere telling German TV: "We can't present ourselves like this." One of the main factors was held to be Löw's insistence on playing his captain Philipp Lahm in midfield instead of his old position of right-back - a trick he apparently picked up from Lahm's club coach Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich.

Restoring a more familiar shape for the quarterfinal against France - with Lahm at right-back and a classic striker - gave Germany a new defensive stability, and Löw won praise for having the courage to "drop his dogmas," as the Westdeutsche Zeitung put it.

Though the France game was dour, the Brazil rollicking showed what this formation is capable of, as Germany's midfielders rediscovered the attacking interplay they had displayed in 2010. The quarterfinal and the semifinal showed that Löw has the capacity to learn from past failures. He is going into the biggest match of his life with a newfound tactical maturity.

Best form

No team at this World Cup has been entirely free of flaws. Brazil's shortcomings were embarrassingly exposed against Germany, Argentina have got to the final without ever producing the attacking brilliance their squad promises, the Netherlands were all fire and thunder in their opening game, but fell flat in the knockout rounds. Germany, too, have looked weak at times. Ghana exposed their defensive frailties in a rollercoaster 2-2 in the group stage. Meanwhile their lack of a striker other than Miroslav Klose was shown up particularly against Algeria.

But the Germans are now playing a very different game than in the early stages of the tournament. They have tinkered with the engine in training, and moved through the gears during the games. Their first-half performance against Brazil shows they are now purring - while their upcoming opponents are still stuttering. Argentina will make it a lot more difficult than the hysterical, overburdened Brazil side, but this generation of German players are in the best form they have ever been in.