The Germans kick off their campaign against Poland on Sunday in Klagenfurt and Low admits both he and his players cannot wait for the game.

"I am really looking forward to getting underway," he said. "I can feel the passion and motivation of the players, who want to achieve something, and that is giving me strength."

Low is getting closer to knowing his first-choice team after a few doubts arose following the recent warm-up games against Belarus and Serbia.

In attack, Bayern Munich's Miroslav Klose should be the number one choice despite a dip in form towards the end of the Bundesliga season.

"Miro has shown a fantastic physical condition here in Ascona, something I have not seen in him for weeks," said Low.

Partnering him should be 22-year-old Stuttgart forward Mario Gomez, who former Germany legend Lothar Matthaus has tipped to be one of the stars of the tournament.

Even the doubts Low had in defence appear to have passed with Christoph Metzelder, who confidently said that he would be "in top form" as soon as the tournament begins, backing up his claim.

"He (Metzelder) is now making a good impression on me," said Low. "He has needed the two warm-up games to get back to form but the (foot) injury is no longer bothering him.

"I think all the players will be happy when the game on Sunday gets underway. The tension is increasing day by day and you get the impression that we are all concentrated on Sunday.

"The excitement is immense but it is still going to be a difficult tournament. There is no settling-in period - we have a very tough and tight game from the off against Poland.

"I am certain they will push us right to our limits on Sunday."

Low, who was a key member of the backroom staff when Jurgen Klinsmann led Germany to the World Cup semi-finals in 2006, added: "Up until now, we have just worked on ourselves, but now we are gathering information about Poland.

"From Saturday, though, we will concentrate on our own game once again because we want to play our own game.

"The decision on how we will play will be taken on Saturday evening."