Germany captain Philipp Lahm has claimed the current side is better than the one that almost reached the World Cup final four years ago.

The Germans open their campaign against Group D rivals Australia in Durban on Sunday, and Lahm is confident his team will not disappoint fans.

"We really want to start with a win," said the 26-year-old Lahm. "It will give the young team even more security. There is even more confidence in the team because we did so well in the warm up games which was not the case back in 2006."