A 1-0 win over Russia in Moscow in October saw Germany book their ticket for South Africa with a game to spare and that game was a particular highlight of the last 12 months for Low.

"To win in Russia was enormously positive," he said in an end-of-year interview broadcast on the German Football Association's (DFB) website.

"We had been dealing with the Russia game for a long time in advance because nobody wanted to deal with a play-off match and we were thinking day and night about this game.

"To win in Russia was an incredible feeling, especially in front of their own fans.

"Had we lost, I could imagine there would have been horror scenarios."

Rene Adler, Mesut Ozil and Jerome Boateng all featured in that match and they are just a handful of players Low has tipped to shine in 2010 and beyond.

"Ozil, (Andreas) Beck, Boateng and the two goalkeepers (Manuel) Neuer and Adler have developed really well," added Low.

"I think German football has brought some young players through who really can make it to the very top."

Those are just five of the names likely to figure in the 23-man squad for the World Cup next summer, and they will all have a particularly challenging major tournament debut to contend with, according to Low.

But he said: "Our team is capable of anything."

Sadly that team will not include Robert Enke, who was tipped to be Germany's number one until his death in November.

The 32-year-old had been suffering from depression and committed suicide while the Germany squad was preparing for a friendly international against Chile.

"I was paralysed by the news," said Low. "I didn't know Robert Enke only as a player, but also as a person.

"He gave the impression of being so mature and able to deal with setbacks. He was a personality and it was particularly bad not to be able to recognise that he had such problems."