Germany's young team were taught a lesson by Spain in their World Cup semi-final defeat and still have lots to learn, assistant coach Hansi Flick said on Thursday.
"We have learned a lesson or two from this match. We are on the right road but it was evident we haven't reached the end of this learning curve," said Flick, who was full of praise for the Spanish after their 1-0 victory.
"We wanted to deny them the space they needed and force them into mistakes. But you have to admit that they are one of the best teams in the world -- they are technically gifted and are great at keeping possession," he said.
Joachim Loew's assistant added, however, that Germany had left a good impression on the tournament before coming up against the very best on Wednesday in Durban.
"If you look at the other games, the team was in the best fighting spirit and I think it wouldn't be wrong to say that the whole world was realising, 'Hey, these Germans can play'.
"We were very solid, well organised but the team we met, Spain, were in a class of their own," he said.
