Wouldn't you just know it? Less than ten months after being given the mother of all beatings in the Fatherland, Germany are one step away from being crowned the best team in the world.

It would be a misnomer, of course, to use that term to describe the Germans - even if they overcome Brazil or Turkey on Sunday.

But just as West Germany lifted the trophy in 1954 and 1974 when they weren't the No 1 team in either tournament, so the Class of 2002 could be taking the World Cup home after the weekend.

In 1954, a Ferenc Puskas-inspired Hungary had already thrashed the Germans 8-3 when the two sides met again in the final.West Germany won 3-2.

Twenty years later, Holland's total football swept all before them and merited football's ultimate prize.

West Germany, pragmatic and conservative compared with Holland's flair and elan, won 2-1.

How do they do it? Surely there must be more to it than typical Teutonic efficiency - especially in a year when they have assembled their worst team in four decades.

Well, their draw could scarcely have been more comfortable had they been given a bye into the final.

When a team's most difficult opponents are the Republic of Ireland, who really should have beaten Germany, you know they are destined to reach the final.

In a tournament that has been the domain of young, energetic sides, Germany have bucked the trend.

OK, so they might not have been saddled with the number of elder statesmen that fatally undermined France's World Cup defence.

But the absence through injury of key men such as Jens Nowotny and Sebastian Deisler, allied to results such as the embarrassing 1-0 defeat to Wales last month, led most football sages to write off the Germans before a ball had been kicked. Big mistake.

Midfielder Michael Ballack, who has scored their winning goal in the last two rounds, said: "We are missing some very important players but we knew their replacements will be just as good.

"After all, on a European club basis German teams have gone very far this season.

"My own team, Bayer Leverkusen, managed to get to the final of the Champions League and Borussia Dortmund reached the final of the UEFA Cup.

"We knew we were worth something and we believed in ourselves. We were disappointed with the criticism levelled at us for lack of flair and style."

Three unconvincing 1-0 wins, against Paraguay, the United States and South Korea, tell us all we need to know about this German team.

Oliver Kahn, vying with Brad Friedel for the title of the World Cup's best goalkeeper, has conceded just one goal in six games - to Robbie Keane.