World Cup 2014: Germany must improve finishing in knockout round, says coach Joachim Loew

Germany can play much better than they did in the group phase of the World Cup with the team needing to improve its finishing, coach Joachim Loew told reporters at the team's base camp in a remote resort on the Atlantic coast.

"A World Cup is a marathon and not a 100-metre dash where you go all out at the start with the best-possible performance - that'll backfire," said Loew.

"As we've seen in some other tournaments, teams win their first three matches and then it's all over in the fourth match. A team needs to improve their performance through the course of a tournament. That's the art that a team needs to master."

Germany face Algeria in Porto Alegre on Monday in the Round of 16 as the tournament enters its knockout phase.

"We haven't gone to the limit yet. But that's alright at this stage. Now we're in the knock-out round and have to step it up when it comes to some of the finer points of our game."

Loew was pleased with the way his team, one of the top title favourites, won top spot in their group with wins against Portugal and the United States, and a draw against Ghana. He said an emphasis on adapting to the hot South American climate conditions and unusual afternoon match scheduling paid off.

But singled out the poor finishing against Ghana and the United States as an area that needs to get better in the knock-out round.

"Our finishing could be better," he said, noting Germany scored on 40 percent of their shots on goal against Portugal but just 20 percent against Ghana. "We had two or three (wasted) chances against the United States. If you want to win (the World Cup), that last pass and last action have to connect."

Pleased with the way his defence was working with four towering centre backs on the backline of his 4-3-3 lineup instead of using faster fullbacks as during the qualifying, Loew said there was plenty of room for improvement on the attack.

"Our homework now is to raise the attacking game a notch or two," he said. "In that front third of the pitch we need to make sharper passes and be more effective in the area."