Lahm praises Germany's quality at Euro 2012

''Made in Germany'' is a label that is widely considered a synonym for quality and durability of a product.

The same could be said for the country's team at the European Championship.

The Germans have reached the semifinals of a major tournament for the fourth consecutive time. Now, they hope they have the talent to finally win one.

''There is a lot of quality in our squad,'' captain Philipp Lahm said Sunday. ''We have a lot of depth and that is a calming feeling ahead of the semifinals.

''All 23 players are important. It's good to know that even those who have not played for a while are able to come in and show their international class in a quarterfinal,''

Germany will play either Italy or England in a semifinal Thursday in Warsaw, ''and I don't think either of them will be happy to be playing us,'' Lahm said.

After failing to come out of the group stage at the 2004 European Championship in Portugal, the Germans have made impressive progress, first under Juergen Klinsmann and now Joachim Loew.

Germany was third at the 2006 World Cup at home, lost the Euro 2008 final to Spain and finished third again at the 2010 World Cup, when it lost to Spain again in the semifinals. Since then, Germany has won all 15 competitive matches in has played. Its seventh semifinal of a European Championship is a record.

''The team has evolved very well. No team here has won four games. We want to go to Kiev (for the July 1 final),'' Lahm said.

For all its consistency, the Germans have not won a title since Euro 1996, their third continental trophy.

''We worked hard in the past weeks and we want to go to the final and win the title. That was our aim before the tournament and it hasn't changed,'' Lahm said.

Loew changed his entire three-man forward line in the quarterfinal against Greece, changing the ''never change a winning team'' wisdom. It worked like a dream, with two of the new men, Miroslav Klose and Marco Reus, scoring in a 4-2 win.

''We have a top squad but every player has to prove himself anew all the time and the coach then has all options open. It's normal that those who did not play are disappointed not to have been in a quarterfinal, it would be bad if that were not the case,'' Lahm said.

''But they know that on Thursday things could be very different again. The important thing that is the coach can rely on all players and that is the case now,'' the Bayern Munich defender said.

''The internal competition for a place in the starting lineup is great. But all of those who play must produce a good performance, that is important,'' Lahm said.

Apparently, about the only thing that has disturbed the German peace of mind is a mysterious mole who has been revealing the starting lineups hours before matches.

''It's a pity, it's not helpful when the lineup is leaked hours before. One should not tell outsiders, even his wife or friends,'' Lahm said.