Mario Gotze has said that his belief in his own ability was a crucial factor in helping Germany to World Cup success.

The 22-year-old came off the bench in the final last month and scored an extra-time winner to help his country lift the trophy for the fourth time in their history.

"You don't really think very much when you´re in a situation like that," he told Bild. "I could try to describe what happened to you but only after taking a look at the replay myself. In the match it all happens intuitively.

"Everyone wants to play as much as possible in the World Cup. I think that I made a contribution to our winning the World Cup. Whenever I got my chances, my performance values were alright. I kept training hard [after being benched] and kept believing in myself."

Gotze's goal in the World Cup final was his 11th for Germany in 35 appearances.