Caught up in what Germany coach Jürgen Klinsmann called "World Cup fever," many Germans' faith in the national team has been revived after a pre-Cup low, and they are convinced their team can't be stopped from reaching the final.

Klinsmann emphasized his respect for the Swedish team and insisted he hasn't thought about who Germany would face in the quarter-finals, probably South American powerhouse Argentina.

"I am not even thinking of any possible quarter-final," he said. "It will be very difficult against Sweden on Saturday."

Loss would be "catastrophic"

Later Klinsmann, however, added that he understood losing to Sweden would be "catastrophic."

"I have participated in six tournaments as a player and know that in a soccer-crazy nation such as Germany or England, you can not go out in the last 16 or quarter-finals. It is not that simple," the 41-year-old Klinsmann said.

Sweden are certainly Germany's most difficult test so far and steadily improved during the group stage, according to German captain Michael Ballack.

"We have been good so far but we need to put that behind us. Sweden are our first really difficult opponents," he said. "This team has to show it can get better and see if we can do that against Sweden. It will be an intense game."

It's the very intensity of being surrounded by those critical eyes could prove difficult for Germany, according to Sweden coach Lars Lagerback. He said the added pressure could be an advantage for the Scandinavians, especially if Germany don't impress early in the match.

"It could be tough to play at home and have all these expectations," he said. "Of course there will be some kind of pressure on the German team. It could be a benefit (for Sweden)."

Sweden's star is rising

In the tournament so far, Sweden have proved to be capable of turning around a game in the final minutes with a late 1-0 win against Paraguay and two end-of-the-game goals to draw 2-2 with England in the group stage.

"Germany are favorites," Sweden striker Henrik Larsson said. "They have the home advantage and a great coach in Jürgen Klinsmann, but we hope to pull off a surprise. We showed against England how dangerous we can be from set-pieces."

But German assistant coach Joachim Löw said Larsson wasn't saying anything he didn't already know.

"We'll study the variants they use, talk to the players and assign marking duties," he told reporters. "We'll also have to make sure we don't give away free kicks in dangerous situations."

Both teams have statistics they can haul out for locker room motivation. Sweden is one of a handful of teams with positive records against Germany, but German fans would also be quick to point out the last time the teams contested a World Cup match was in 1974, when then West Germany won the title on home soil.