Moscow: Germany are feeling no pressure as the reigning world champions, going into their Group F opener against Mexico on Sunday and cannot wait to extend their record of opening game victories under Joachim Loew, the coach said on Saturday.
The Germans, World Cup winners in 2014, kick-off their title defence at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium and Loew said his players had nothing else on their mind other than winning their opener.
"The (2014) title plays no role. The tension we have is a positive one and you can feel it rising. What you won in the past does not matter," he said.
"Before the first match, everyone has this positive tension. But we aren't feeling any kind of pressure. You want it to start, to prove yourself, to take a good step in this tournament and it does not matter what you have won and not."
Loew has been in charge since the 2010 World Cup and his team has won every tournament opener at Euros and World Cups under him, a run they want to extend against the Mexicans. He said that setbacks during their preparation for Russia, such as a loss to Austria and a scrappy win against Saudi Arabia in their final warm-up games, never shifted the team's focus.
"It is correct that we have won a lot of opening matches. We accept that in our preparation things may go wrong at some point. What we focus on is the first tournament game and in the first games we have always shown our good performance," Loew said.
"It has to do with the self-confidence of the players. I hope we can succeed tomorrow against very tough opponents that play well in almost every aspect of their game."
Midfielder Mesut Ozil has fully recovered from a minor knee injury and is available for selection. The Germans have won all three tournament encounters against the Mexicans, including their 4-1 demolition in last year's Confederations Cup. German FA records state that in 11 matches Mexico have managed just one victory.
But midfielder Julian Draxler, who captained a largely second-string Germany to the Confederations Cup title, warned that Sunday's encounter would be a completely different affair. "Our team has changed a lot from the Confederations Cup," Draxler said.
"We should not read too much into that win last year. It will be a completely different game. Mexico are collectively strong, play pressing football and can put the opponents under pressure."
Germany are trying to become the first team in 56 years to successfully defend their title, after Brazil in 1962, but Mexico defender Carlos Salcedo believes their Group F opponents are not invincible.
"We speak a lot about them and we consider them clearly superior," said Salcedo, who signed a four-year deal with Eintracht Frankfurt in May after spending the past season on loan with the Bundesliga club.
"But no one is unbeatable. In football, the difference between levels has decreased and there are lots of other factors. There are just two or three players who can score two or three goals per game - (Lionel) Messi, (Cristiano) Ronaldo and Neymar - who can shake things up with a stroke of individual genius."
Like Germany, Mexico qualified with ease for a seventh consecutive World Cup after punching their ticket to the main round with three matches to spare. Rafael Marquez, who will retire after the tournament, is set to become just the third player, after compatriot Antonio Carbajal and Germany's Lothar Matthaus, to feature in five World Cups.
Underdogs Mexico are ready to cause a major upset and beat Germany for the first time in a tournament on Sunday, provided the central Americans realise the World Cup clash is just another football game, coach Juan Carlos Osorio said.
Brimming with confidence ahead of their World Cup Group F opener in Moscow's Luzhniki stadium, Osorio conceded the four-times world champions were tournament favourites but said his team was in with a chance.
Kick-off: 8.30 pm (IST)
