Berlin
Germany’s World Cup-winning head coach Joachim Loew will step down after the European championships this July, the German football association said on Wednesday.
Loew will leave with a year left on his contract having signed up until the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar.
In a statement, Loew said he was ‘full of pride and enormous gratitude’ after nearly 15 years as national coach and that he was ‘motivated’ for his swansong at the rearranged European championships from June 11 to July 11.
Fritz Keller, the president of the German football association (DFB), said Loew’s decision “gives us the necessary time to name his successor calmly”.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and Bayern Munich boss Hansi Flick, who was Loew’s assistant coach when Germany won the 2014 World Cup, have been mentioned as early frontrunners for the job.
Loew has vowed to go out on a high at the European championships but Germany face a tough task to have been drawn in the same group as world champions France and holders Portugal. “I still feel the will, great energy and ambition,” Loew insisted.
“I will do my best to make our fans happy and be successful at this tournament.” The 61-year-old nicknamed ‘Jogi’ has been in charge of Germany since 2006.
The 2014 triumph in Brazil, where his side beat Lionel Messi’s Argentina in the final thanks to Mario Goetze’s extra-time winner, was the highpoint of his reign.—AP
