GERMANY coach Joachim Low was brimming with confidence when he and his squad arrived in the Swiss town of Ascona, their base for Euro 2008, on Tuesday.
Germany are seen as one of the pre-tournament favourites following their third-placed showing at the 2006 World Cup.
Only France and world champions Italy bettered the Germans two years ago and now Low feels his side should be setting their sights on glory.
"Why should we be happy with second place when we can achieve the best?" he asked.
A fully-fit squad of 23 players took part in their first training session in warm sunshine in southern Switzerland on Tuesday afternoon.
They are set for a busy few days, particularly as Low admits he has yet to decide on his first-choice team and one player per position can still convince him of his worth.
In attack, Mario Gomez, Miroslav Klose and Kevin Kuranyi are fighting for two places while Oliver Neuville scored in the recent 2-1 win over Serbia and Lukas Podolski has been in top form in training.
"Lukas has impressed me and he is an option I will consider," admitted Low.
"Overall, he has made a very good impression."
However, Low could choose to play the Bayern Munich striker on the left wing and, thus, resolve an issue he has in his midfield.
Michael Ballack and Torsten Frings are practically certain of their places in the centre while Bastian Schweinsteiger should be preferred on the right, although Clemens Fritz started the last warm-up match against Serbia and he too is pushing for a place.
And there is one place available in defence too with Christoph Metzelder and Per Mertesacker regarded as the number one central pairing with Philipp Lahm slotting in either on the left or, more recently, on the right.
That leaves Arne Friedrich, Heiko Westermann and Marcell Jansen as options for the remaining full-back position.
"The final word has not been spoken yet and there are still lots of possibilities," said Low.
"There are still one or two question marks."
The only thing Low can be certain of is the system his team will employ.
"There will be no change in tactics - the basis remains a 4-4-2," he added.
Germany's first match of the competition is on Sunday when they play Poland in Klagenfurt.
Only France and world champions Italy bettered the Germans two years ago and now Low feels his side should be setting their sights on glory.
"Why should we be happy with second place when we can achieve the best?" he asked.
A fully-fit squad of 23 players took part in their first training session in warm sunshine in southern Switzerland on Tuesday afternoon.
They are set for a busy few days, particularly as Low admits he has yet to decide on his first-choice team and one player per position can still convince him of his worth.
In attack, Mario Gomez, Miroslav Klose and Kevin Kuranyi are fighting for two places while Oliver Neuville scored in the recent 2-1 win over Serbia and Lukas Podolski has been in top form in training.
"Lukas has impressed me and he is an option I will consider," admitted Low.
"Overall, he has made a very good impression."
However, Low could choose to play the Bayern Munich striker on the left wing and, thus, resolve an issue he has in his midfield.
Michael Ballack and Torsten Frings are practically certain of their places in the centre while Bastian Schweinsteiger should be preferred on the right, although Clemens Fritz started the last warm-up match against Serbia and he too is pushing for a place.
And there is one place available in defence too with Christoph Metzelder and Per Mertesacker regarded as the number one central pairing with Philipp Lahm slotting in either on the left or, more recently, on the right.
That leaves Arne Friedrich, Heiko Westermann and Marcell Jansen as options for the remaining full-back position.
"The final word has not been spoken yet and there are still lots of possibilities," said Low.
"There are still one or two question marks."
The only thing Low can be certain of is the system his team will employ.
"There will be no change in tactics - the basis remains a 4-4-2," he added.
Germany's first match of the competition is on Sunday when they play Poland in Klagenfurt.
Copyright (c) Press Association
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