Toni Kroos believes anything other than winning the World Cup would constitute failure for Germany this summer.
The three-time world champions are preparing for their quarter-final clash against France at the Maracana on Friday on the back of an unconvincing victory over Algeria after extra-time in the last 16.
Kroos, however, says that winning the World Cup is the only option for Germany such is the level of expectation in the country.
"The pressure is there because we have good players and a top team capable of great things," Kroos said in his pre-match press conference on Thursday.
"Expectation is running high because people want us to win the title. Anything else would be a defeat.
"France is a team on the very top. We know what is coming our way, we know that they have top players. They have performed as a team, which perhaps was not always the case before.
"It's important for us to keep the ball and win individual duels. If we perform our best then I believe we are the better team. We have to show it."
Kroos also backed under-fire team-mate Mesut Ozil and believes the Arsenal man will show his match-winning qualities in the remainder of the tournament.
Kroos added: "[Ozil] has shown in this tournament his qualities to be decisive in a match, regardless of where he plays. I think these knockout matches will show how important he is to the team."
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