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Durban - Germany coach Joachim Loew pinpointed his team's slick passing game and nose for attack as the keys to their dominant 4-0 thrashing of Australia in their World Cup opener Sunday.
The Germans dominated the Socceroos, with man-of-the-match Lukas Podolski, Miroslav Klose, Thomas Mueller and Brazil-born striker Cacau all getting on the scoresheet.
Mueller and Mesut Oezil in particular were particularly ruthless in exposing a leaden-footed Australian defence with their neat interchanges down the right flank.
The victory leaves Germany top of Group D, Ghana having beaten Serbia 1-0 in the day's other game.
"We dominated the whole match, from the beginning to the end," said Loew.
"Australia were rather defensive so we tried to change the pace a bit, we tried to go deeper with Podolski, Klose, Oezil, Mueller and Sami Khedira, using low balls and inter-passing.
"It created problems for the Australian defence. Australia defended with 10 players. You can't go through that, you have to build it up through a passing game.
"The way we set up attack and the passing game is something we're worked on over the last couple of years. Using unused space: a precondition to playing well.
"We were also good on the ball and created some beautiful goals."
But Loew said that it was not all a clean bill of excellence.
"There's still some room for improvement. The defence was excellent under the high ball, but we could have closed down the space betwen defence and midfield a little quicker," he said.
"As far as our attacking play and counter-attacking go, I'm very happy."
Loew added that German supporters should not get "euphoric" at the result, warning that the team would face tougher opponents than the Socceroos.
"It's the first match of the tournament. We know Australia are not the ultimate benchmark, but having said that they have performed well in the past," he said.
"There will be more difficult opponents to play."
He added: "The first match of the tournament comes with a enormous amount of pressure. It was almost tangible. There were so many expectations after having trained for so long.
"It's difficult to get out of the starting blocks and get self-confidence, and I'm very satisfied to have won by such a huge margin.
"Now we take the next step to take points in the next game.
"The win was important because players gain self-confidence. They know what they can do but it's good for them to see themselves implement it."
But he warned: "Serbia will be a different benchmark, maybe playing higher balls. What we have to do is remain focused."
Loew also singled out the strength in depth of his squad, saying he had the luxury of leaving the likes of Cacau on the bench.
"We have a range of players in both attack and defence, players on the bench like Cacau or Piotr Trochowski who can change a game."
Podolski added: "We were pretty good from the very first to the very last minute. We put Australia under pressure in attack and implemented everything we wanted to do.
"I think Germany will be celebrating this win, but when we face the Serbian team it'll be tough."
