Germany have won fulsome praise from European football boss Michel Platini, who called them young, creative and the best team in Europe in an interview.

The UEFA president gave his native France a mediocre rating, three days before the sides meet on Wednesday in Bremen with 100 days to go to Euro 2012.

“I’ve always admired German football,” Platini told the German Sunday paper, Welt am Sonntag.

“More than ever today, perhaps. Germany has the best team in Europe: very young, very creative; no points dropped in the qualifying round.

“You’re the big favourites in Euro 2012, along with Spain.”

Platini, winner of Euro 1984 for France, joked that as a player he did not just have bad memories as a player of Germany, but nightmares when he remembered the 1982 World Cup semi-final, which France lost in a penalty shootout after squandering a 3-1 extra-time lead, and a 2-0 defeat at the same stage in 1986.

“It was a contest of equals. The referee was having a bad day, or else we would have won.” he said.

“(German goalkeeper Toni) Schumacher should have been sent off for a foul against Patrick Battiston and we should have got a penalty shot. But it was a great game.”

“In 1986 we were better than Germany, but we still lost to them again. Back then, like now, Germany was hard to beat. Very hard.”

He had nothing good to say of today’s France, which has been a shadow of its old self since its disastrous showing in 2010 at the World Cup in South Africa.

“We had a great generation, who have now moved on. Now we have to build up a new team. We’ve got two or three really great players like Karim Benzema or Franck Ribery. The rest are so-so,” he said.

Euro 2012 kicks off on June 8 with Germany having been drawn in Group B alongside Portugal, the Netherlands and Denmark, while France face co-hosts the Ukraine, Sweden and England in Group D.