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GERMANY boss Joachim Low hailed Spain as the best team in the world and said: "I'm convinced they will be champions."
Despite the heartbreaking 1-0 defeat, Low was full of praise for Germany's conquerors and insisted they will beat Holland in Sunday's final.
He said: "Yes, they are the best team in the world. In 2008, Spain won the Euros in an overwhelming way.
"They have won all their important games over the past three years and they're pretty much unchanged.
"I am convinced they're going to win the final because, when they want to be, they are in complete control.
"They dominate opponents and games, and have shown they can beat anyone and everyone."
Germany, sunk by Carles Puyol's 73rd-minute header, now face Uruguay in the third-place contest on Saturday.
And Low admitted the defeat was a massive blow to his players.
He added: "I just saw their faces in the dressing room. They are totally disappointed because we had our ambitions. But we weren't good enough.
"Spain are a well-oiled team that has been playing together for two or three years with almost the exact same players.
"We, on the other hand, had some inhibitions during the game but it's difficult to explain why.
"We did not have the courage and conviction to fully play our game. We were made to work hard to get the ball.
"It's clear after losing the semi-final everybody would be disappointed but we've got to shake them up tomorrow.
"We have to come to terms with the disappointment over the next few hours. On Saturday we've got to provide a grand finale."
Keeper Manuel Neuer said: "We just could not find ways to attack. We did not get the early goal as in the previous two matches and we were lacking a bit of courage."
Hotshot Miroslav Klose, 32, who is still one short of Ronaldo's 15-goal finals record, said: "They had a lot of possession and we were made to run a lot. But credit to Spain who deserved to win."
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