“The Spanish have delivered an impressive performance,” Löw said. “They’ve played at a very high level during the whole tournament and their technique has been strong.”

Löw watched the Spain-Russia game on television Thursday night, which ended with a score of 3-0, with his assistant coach Hans-Dieter Flick, goalkeeper coach Andreas Köpke and team manager Oliver Bierhoff.

Spain’s coach, Luis Aragones, also expressed his respect for the other side.

“It’s going to be hard, become our opponent is Germany,” he said.

He will likely have to do without top player David Villa, who was injured in the match against Russia.

Even without Villa, the German team is expecting a difficult task on Sunday night.

“It’s going to be a killer,” said Philipp Lahm, whose goal clinched Germany’s 3-2 victory over Turkey on Wednesday.

German Christoph Metzelder, who plays for Real Madrid, likely best knows what the team is up against. In the final, he will be competing against his fellow club players Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos.