Joachim Low feels Germany may struggle to break down Greece in Friday’s game but is confident of reaching the semi-finals.

– Germany v Greece preview

Greece booked a meeting with Germany in Gdansk after finishing second in Group A by adopting a highly defensive strategy while seizing the chances that came their way.

It an approach that saw Greece stun the continent by claiming glory at Euro 2004 but, while Low accepts that Germany are likely to find it tough to score on Friday, he expects his side to progress to the next round.

“It will be a tight affair as it is a quarter-final, but one thing we won't do is underestimate the Greeks,” he said. “It will be important to find a killer instinct if we get few chances. We are going to have to be patient against deep-defending Greeks with nine men on the edge of their area, but we will find ways to break through.”

He added: “You are not going to see me nervous. I may be animated and enjoy our good passes and get angry with the bad ones, but we need to be patient.

“I don't think the fans are going to think 'Wow, what a game' with both sides going all out for a win, as was maybe the case against Holland. Greece's priority will be to keep a clean sheet.”

Germany produced a thrilling performance at the 2010 World Cup as they thrashed England and then Argentina in the knockout rounds of the competition and, though they claimed a 100% record in Group B at Euro 2012, there has been criticism of the team.

It took a late goal on the counter-attack to secure a 2-1 win over Denmark in their final group game, but Low says that type of performance is inevitable if the opposition take a defensive tack.

“We did not really take our chances early on against Denmark and we had problems after that,” he said. “Look at our games against England or Argentina at the 2010 World Cup - we took an early lead and that opened the game up as they had to throw men forwards.”