German World Cup winner Franz Beckenbauer believes the current national team is good enough to reach the last four at the 2010 tournament in South Africa.
"It's not a team that permanently shines but the team is solid enough to achieve what it did four years ago," he said Tuesday.
Beckenbauer was speaking at the presentation of the World Cup final ball at the headquarters of sports goods manufacturer adidas in Herzogenaurach in southern Germany.
The "Jo'bulani" is a gold-coloured version of the "Jabulani", the tournament's official match ball - and it's name a tribute to Johannesburg, venue for the final on July 11.
It is the second time adidas has designed a special ball for a World Cup final, after the golden Teamgeist Berlin was used on July 9 2006.
Germany reached the semi-finals of the 2006 World Cup tournament at home, eventually finishing third, and Beckenbauer - who won the World Cup as both player and coach - said Joachim Loew's squad was among the candidates behind top favourites Spain and Brazil.
Beckenbauer said he was looking forward to the first World Cup on African soil and quipped in the presence of South Africa coach Carlos Alberto Parreira that the final he would most like to see would be Germany against hosts South Africa.
"They put in a good performance at the Confederations Cup last year. The key is Parreira - you need an experienced coach," he said.
"I am convinced it will be an outstanding World Cup. Anyone who knows South Africa knows what a wonderful country it is," he added.
Brazilian coach Parreira, who is in Herzogenaurach for a training camp with the South African squad, said he hoped Beckenbauer's hopes for the final come true but "our first aim is to survive the group phase."
The hosts, who have been drawn in a difficult group with France, Mexico and Uruguay, have arranged two friendlies in Germany - against North Korea on Thursday and China on Wednesday next week, both in Frankfurt.
A match originally planned for Thursday against Nuremberg's second team has now been called off.
A second match against Estonia has also been scrapped because the restrictions on air travel have prevented the Estonian team from travelling.
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