“We can’t put teams up on a pedestal yet, it is too soon,” he said. “To win the tournament, you need to be very consistent and it’s too early to say which teams will have that quality.” 

Loew was surprised to see Ruud van Nistelrooy’s controversial goal for Holland stand against Italy and admits he has not been able to coach his players to avoid falling foul of the new offside rule.

“I knew nothing about the rule,” said Loew. “The players talked about it and so did the coaches. We all wondered what you could do in a situation like this.

“We know that a player can’t deliberately leave the field to avoid being offside, but when he is knocked from the field and it’s unintentional that’s different.

“I was very surprised by the interpretation of the rule.”

Tottenham’s £16.5million new signing Luka Modric missed a training session of Croatia’s this week because of a strained tendon, but the injury is not serious and he will play against Germany.

And manager Slaven Bilic has backed Modric to follow up his goal from the penalty spot in their Group B opener against Austria with more match-winning performances.

“He’s a type of player who can play anywhere in the midfield, up front or more defensively,” said Bilic. “He’s our best player. Without him we would be half of what we are.”

Self-confidence is not something Modric lacks. “I had no fear when I took the penalty against Austria,” said Modric.

“I don’t feel like a rising star. I feel like I’m already there.”