Lahm: Experience will be key

Philipp Lahm believes Germany’s greater experience will give them the upper hand in Sunday’s FIFA World Cup final with Argentina.

Germany reached the showpiece at the Maracana courtesy of a 7-1 demolition of a sorry Brazil in Belo Horizonte on Tuesday.

The devastating display from Joachim Low’s men has led many to suggest they are strong favourites to claim a fourth title, with Argentina’s cagey performance in beating Netherlands on penalties in the second semi-final doing little to dispel that belief.

Speaking in a press conference ahead of the squad’s departure to Rio de Janeiro, Lahm claimed that Germany’s greater know-how in big games will work in their favour.

“A lot of our players have experience of playing in big finals with big clubs,” he said.

“That’s definitely an advantage for us.

“You never know how far you will go, but we’ve prepared well, worked as a team and now we’re one step away.

“I’m looking forward to the final. We want simply to become world champion.

“[If we won] I would go to bed early…or maybe in the early hours.”

Lahm’s team-mate Thomas Muller has enjoyed another stellar World Cup, with his five goals in six games matching the tally that won him the golden boot four years ago in South Africa.

And the Bayern Munich man says he and the rest of the team will do everything in their power to lift the trophy for the first time in 24 years.

“We’ll give everything we’ve got to win the World Cup,” he said.

“It’ll be very important to push ourselves to the limit, especially defensively. You need to be quick to keep up with [Lionel] Messi.

“We’ve played against Messi a few times. I’ve never lost a competitive game against him.

“We haven’t had a tour of Rio de Janeiro yet but for me the only reason for going back there is to win the World Cup.”