Intro:

World champions Germany have arrived back home in Berlin after landing their fourth World Cup title.

Script:

Germany's World Cup winners shared their fourth title with hundreds of thousands of fans by parading the trophy through cheering throngs to celebrate at the Brandenburg Gate on Tuesday.

An estimated 400,000 people packed the "fan mile" in front of the Berlin landmark to welcome home coach Joachim Loew's team and the trophy - which returned to Germany for the first time in 24 years.

It crowned years of work by Loew to modernise the team, and followed a string of near misses at recent tournaments.

Joachim Loew's side crushed Brazil 7-1 in an historic semi-final, before Mario Gotze's goal saw them beat Argentina and become champions of the world in Rio de Janeiro.

It's the first World Cup title for Germany since they beat the same opponents in Italy in 1990, and their first since reunification.