Quotes from Joachim Low

Our sports are totally different, if Lance Armstrong himself were to come and train with us he'd be completely exhausted after half and hour.

As a coach, of course I favour competition.

There are things you can learn about certain players while watching them in action in a friendly.

I know lots of Korean players, Heung-Min Son from Tottenham Hotspur of course, there are also lots in the Bundesliga. They have a great mentality and are very quick.

Neuer is of course the best goalkeeper in the world.

Sometimes it's natural to do the safe pass, the no-frills thing, to pass it back to the goalkeeper. But I want them to do the daring thing.

I consider 100 wins to be better than 100 defeats.

Thomas Muller deserves enormous respect. He's hardly ever injured and has always been with the national team, where other players might have said they are tired, need a break or were injured. He has busted his butt for the national team.

Real Madrid are an interesting club for any manager.

We don't play to grind out goalless draws.

To sing the national anthem is wonderful, but it's far from the sign of a strong team and it is absolutely no indication of a lack of desire to fight.

The joy of the Brazilians in football is a wonderful thing no matter where you go.

When we play with three at the back, we need active players, who tie up the opposition and play passes forward.

You need to receive the ball and be assertive with it.

Intelligent players are receptive and capable of implementation.

From my point of view, it is not the coach who becomes world champion, it is a team. Not just the players who played, but the whole squad, and also the team behind the team. Because if you want to achieve success, the whole team has to work perfectly, like a machine, and all the pieces of the puzzle need to fit together into one picture.

It's important that you prepare the players for what happens at a tournament, like a World Cup, for example. You can get a better idea of a situation. They can get to know the conditions, the atmosphere in the country, the stadiums and the journeys involved.

You need superhuman performances at the World Cup.

You always want to see the best players in action at a World Cup, and the players always want to measure themselves up to the very best.

I said to Gotze: 'OK, show the world you are better than Messi and can decide the World Cup.' I told him that. I always had a good feeling about Gotze.

The World Cup is the toughest challenge there is. You have seven matches where you have to bring your best and cannot let up at any turn.

Even before the World Cup in 2010 I had said that there were no world champions who aim to stifle the opposition's play and somehow hope to win. These teams do not go far.

In 2014, we won the World Cup without a big superstar. We won with a team performance where everyone brought something to the team and gave everything for the team.

I have to tip my hat to those who have worked closely with me from the start. All these people have backed me up when it was more difficult, urging me on, so thanks to them.