No one has sent an oompah band to play trombone and accordion outside the Germany team hotel in the early hours. Not yet anyway.

Things have moved on from Achtung Surrender so nobody mentioned the war at the Germany training camp yesterday, either.

Well, nobody except a couple of Swedish journalists who seemed unusually preoccupied with it.

Joachim Loew, the Germany manager, gave them short shrift. "It is high time to forget these things," he said. "This is 2010 with a unified Europe and reverting to these old war themes is absolutely out of place."

There was humour, of course. There always is in the build-up to an England-Germany game. Otherwise the tension would be unbearable.

When it emerged that the Germany players had gone on safari yesterday morning, someone asked skipper Philipp Lahm whether they had seen three lions.

Lahm knew it was England's nickname and the emblem on their shirts. So he played up to the question.

"Yes, we saw them," Lahm said. "But it was a bit of a petting zoo, so we had them in our hands. On Sunday, the treatment we give to these lions will definitely be more aggressive."

But generally it was all very adult. There weren't even any jokes about penalties like there had been the day before although Lahm did say the Germans hadn't even bothered practising them yet.

Together, Loew and Lahm exuded class and quiet confidence. They made absolutely sure they were entirely complimentary about England. In fact, they were almost deferential.

"This match is about our youthful lightness against their international class," Loew said. "England remain England. They can fight, they can run, they are mentally strong and incredibly experienced. Give Rooney and Lampard lots of space and they cannot be stopped."

Loew's nickname is The School Prefect, partly because he dresses like he is 50 going on 16 and partly because he is a young looking manager at the head of a young team.

Yesterday, Loew wore a grey v-neck sweater under a black jacket. The contrast with the bearing of Fabio Capello could hardly be more stark.

But then this Germany side that will line up against England in Bloemfontein tomorrow afternoon is all about youth and casting off the past.

Lahm said he remembered being impossibly excited as he watched 1990 World Cup semi-final between Germany and England in his living room. But Mesut Ozil, the young star of the new Germany, was not even two when that game was played.

So even though they are aware of the history of the rivalry between the two sides, it is not laden with the same significance it holds for England's more experienced players.

This Germany is a side that features four players from the team that thrashed England in the final of the European Under-21 Championships in Sweden last summer.

The pick of them is Ozil, the creative midfielder who is being tipped to become one of the greats of the world game, Germany's version of Paul Gascoigne.

It is also a multicultural side, with players of Turkish, Ghanaian, Tunisian, Brazilian and Polish descent, a team that plays a more open, attacking brand of football than many of the great Germany sides of the past.

But it is also a side that is still developing and which, in many ways, is still unsure of itself. The players admitted openly they were eaten up by fear in their crucial final group game against Ghana on Wednesday.

They fret about a lack of cutting edge in attack and also about the form of central defender Per Mertesacker, who looked particularly shaky against Ghana.

The loss of Michael Ballack through injury before the tournament was a savage blow to their morale and now they are also sweating on the fitness of the influential Bastian Schweinsteiger and defender Jerome Boateng.

"Everyone knows this is a developing team," Lahm said. "That is why, actually, it was important we didn't win every game clearly in the group stage and passed through some difficult moments. It was good for us to suffer for some parts of the games."

Loew, who said he had vague memories of 1966 but clearer ones of 1970 when Gerd Muller and Uwe Seeler scored against England in the World Cup quarter-final, has done as much as he can to paint England as favourites for this tie, conveniently ignoring their wretched form so far at the tournament.

Loew even said he thought the reported differences between Capello and former captain John Terry were probably a good thing for England.

"I don't think it's such a bad thing to have internal discussions between the coach and leading players," Loew said. "Capello is such an experienced and professional guy, so is John Terry.

"It is not the end of the world if they sit together and ask what they can change and what they can do better. They are both ambitious guys

"I don't think this discontent has had any disruptive effect. With their victory over Slovenia, England have reaffirmed themselves. They are back on the right track.

"Their players have had so many matches in the Champions League and the Premier League that it must feel like they have finals almost every weekend. In terms of their mental commitment, they will be 110%.

"We have been working for two years to add these nice things in football to the traditional German values of strength, power and running. I strongly favour attractive football.

"But the English have a never say die attitude and the great fight and commitment they bring to the fore. Despite the high tempo, they have a superb technical level as well.

"I think this is the kind of game that both teams approach with a great deal of mutual respect. Each side knows that the other can win.

"You will not find fear in anyone's eyes on the English or German side. Germany have never approached any of these games with fear.

"There is tension, but it is healthy stage fright. It takes 10 to 15 minutes for players to get comfortable on the pitch. There is great respect, yes, but we won't go into hiding or put our heads in the sand.

"We might have a young team but we will be able to hold our own."