Joachim Löw

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Joachim Löw

Löw in 2011
Personal information
Full nameJoachim Löw
Date of birth (1960-02-03) 3 February 1960
Place of birthSchönau, West Germany
Height1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing positionAttacking midfielder
Club information
Current clubGermany (Manager)
Youth career
TuS Schönau 1896
FC Schönau
Eintracht Freiburg
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1978–1980SC Freiburg71(18)
1980–1981VfB Stuttgart4(0)
1981–1982Eintracht Frankfurt24(5)
1982–1984SC Freiburg65(25)
1984–1985Karlsruher SC24(2)
1985–1989SC Freiburg116(38)
1989–1992FC Schaffhausen
1992–1994FC Winterthur
1994–1995FC Frauenfeld
National team
1979–1980West Germany U214(0)
Teams managed
1994FC Winterthur (youth)
1994–1995FC Frauenfeld
1995–1996VfB Stuttgart (assistant)
1996–1998VfB Stuttgart
1998–1999Fenerbahçe
1999–2000Karlsruher SC
2001Adanaspor
2001–2002FC Tirol Innsbruck
2003–2004FK Austria Wien
2004–2006Germany (assistant)
2006–Germany
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Joachim Löw (born 3 February 1960) is the manager of the German national football team and a former football midfielder.

Playing career

In 1978, Löw started his playing career with 2. Bundesliga club SC Freiburg. He returned to the club twice (1982, 1985) and holds the club's overall goal scoring record.[1] In 1980, Löw joined VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga, but he had difficulties establishing in the starting lineup and played only four matches.

In the 1981–82 season, Löw played for Eintracht Frankfurt (24 matches, five goals), but he returned to Freiburg the following year. In 1982–83, he scored eight goals in 34 matches, 1983–84 he scored 17 goals in 31 matches in the 2. Bundesliga. Afterwards, he returned to the Bundesliga with Karlsruher SC, but he only scored two goals in 24 matches. Later, he joined Freiburg again for four years, played 116 matches and scored 38 goals. Löw concluded his career in Switzerland, where he played for FC Schaffhausen (1989–1992) and FC Winterthur (1992–1994).

Löw played four times for the German national under-21 football team.

Managerial career

Early career

Löw started his coaching career as a youth coach for FC Winterthur while he was still active as a player. In 1994–95, he was playing coach of FC Frauenfeld.

VfB Stuttgart

In 1995–96, he was assistant coach of VfB Stuttgart with coach Rolf Fringer. As Fringer had the opportunity to become coach of the Swiss national team, Löw was promoted caretaker manager in August 1996 and finally team manager. With the so-called "Magic triangle" consisting of players Krasimir Balakov, Giovane Élber, and Fredi Bobic, the team played a successful season and won the 1996–97 DFB-Pokal. The following year, his team finished fourth in the Bundesliga and reached the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup, but they lost 1–0 against Chelsea.

Fenerbahçe

Löw left Stuttgart in July 1998 and joined Turkish club Fenerbahçe. In October 1999, he became coach of Karlsruher SC, but he could not avert relegation to the third division and was dismissed. From December 2000 to March 2001, Löw returned to Turkey as coach of Adanaspor, but he was again dismissed due to poor results.

Tirol Innsbruck

In October 2001, Löw became coach of Tirol Innsbruck and led the team to the Austrian championship in 2002. The same year, the club had to declare bankruptcy and was liquidated. Löw was once again unemployed. His last job on club level was with FK Austria Wien (June 2003 – March 2004).

German national team

Assistant coach

When Jürgen Klinsmann succeeded Rudi Völler as Germany coach following a disappointing Euro 2004, he brought "Jogi" into the German set-up as assistant coach. Klinsmann and Löw met at a coaching school years ago and the instant Klinsmann was appointed he called on Löw to serve with him. They set about replacing the static and defensive style of the three-time world champions with a new philosophy focussed on attacking. The charismatic and highly influential Klinsmann and the tactically smart and also well-liked Löw formed a formidable partnership. Löw was cast as the tactical genius in the background from the outset and Germany went on to enjoy exciting and successful campaigns at the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup and 2006 FIFA World Cup under their reign.

The duo started by reaching the semi-final of the Confederations Cup before losing to Brazil 3–2. Germany would defeat Mexico 4–3 in the third place encounter. Germany's new attacking philosophy saw the team score the most goals (15 in 5 matches) of any team in the tournament.

When Germany opened the 2006 FIFA World Cup on 9 June against Costa Rica in Munich the new tactics Klinsmann and Löw had introduced were put on display as Germany won 4–2 in an exciting match. A last minute 1–0 win over Poland and a 3–0 over Ecuador followed. Germany was swept up in a wave of hope as they defeated Sweden in the round of 16 with two Lukas Podolski goals, followed by a grueling battle with Argentina. In the penalties after finishing extra time at 1–1, the coaching staff gave Jens Lehmann a prepared list of possible Argentinian penalty takers and their preferred way to shoot, which is believed to have helped the goalkeeper to ensure German victory. The semi-final match with Italy was a gutting experience however, with the hosts falling 2–0 after reaching the 119th minute in extra time with the score at 0–0. However, Klinsmann and Löw rallied the troops and they turned in a dominant performance against Portugal in the third place match, winning 3–1 on two Bastian Schweinsteiger goals. The success gave especially Klinsmann iconic status in Germany, nonetheless inside the corridors of German football, it was well known that Löw was the main tactician and strategist among the management crew.

Besides a focus on attacking football and youth development, Klinsmann's staff also introduced an alternative B-team: Team 2006, to experiment with new aspiring players suitable to play at the home World Cup. Also introduced were an enhanced fitness coaching staff, as well as Oliver Bierhoff as "Business Manager" – this job revolves around public relations, general management and everything not directly related to coaching – and finally a mental coach, Dr. Hans-Dieter Hermann, who has the job of preparing the German players for extremely stressful situations in major tournaments.

Head coach

Euro 2008
Löw and his assistant Hans-Dieter Flick in 2006

On 13 July 2006, following Klinsmann's decision to not renew his contract, Löw was named as the new head coach of Germany. Löw obtained a contract for two years and announced that he wanted to continue in the philosophy developed with Klinsmann to stick with that evolution towards a more offensive style. This footballing philosopher has had a particular obsession with the amount of time his players hold on to the ball before passing. During his tenure, he has reduced this time significantly, increasing the pace of the German game. He declared that his aim was to triumph at Euro 2008. His first game in charge, a friendly against Sweden in Gelsenkirchen on 16 August 2006, was a 3–0 success in which Miroslav Klose scored twice and Bernd Schneider scored the other. With wins over Republic of Ireland and San Marino Löw also had a successful start in qualifying for Euro 2008. On Saturday 7 October 2006 the German "DFB-Elf" won 2–0 against Georgia in the Ostseestadion in Rostock, which was the fourth consecutive success for Joachim Löw and his team, the best start of a new head coach of the German national team ever. The team extended this record to five wins in the next challenge, the Euro 2008 qualifier against Slovakia in Bratislava on Wednesday 11 October, with an effective 4–1 victory. The Slovaks' strike was also the first goal conceded by Germany under Löw's reign after a total of 418 minutes played with clean sheets.

The next match saw the end of Löw's perfect record, with the 15 November qualifier in Nicosia against Cyprus ending in a disappointing 1–1 draw. Löw's first loss as head coach came in his eight game on 28 March 2007, an experimental squad lost 0–1 against Denmark. When qualification for Euro 2008 was ensured, Löw's record stood at 11 wins, one loss, and one draw from 13 matches and a 41:6 goal difference, this includes the first win over England in London's new Wembley Stadium.

At Euro 2008 Germany defeated Poland 2–0 in their first game, with two goals from Lukas Podolski. In their second game, Germany were beaten 2–1 by Croatia. In their final group game against Austria, Löw was sent to the stands by the referee Manuel Enrique Mejuto Gonzalez along with his Austrian counterpart Josef Hickersberger for arguing with the fourth official. Following his dismissal, he was seen talking to Angela Merkel, Germany's Chancellor, about the incident. Germany won the match 1–0 courtesy of Michael Ballack and progressed to the quarter finals. Löw changed the 4–4–2 system after the group stages to a 4–2–3–1 system, and left underperforming Mario Gomez out of the starting lineup. Though he was forced to watch from the sidelines, his team defeated Portugal 3–2. In the quarter final Löw was banned from giving any directions to his team even through telephone calls. Later Löw declared that he had put seven different scenarios with his assistant Hansi Flick in order to contain Portugal.[2] In a highly exciting match against Turkey in the semi-finals, Germany won 3–2. Germany then lost 1–0 to Spain in the final on 29 June 2008.

World Cup 2010

Further progress was evident in qualifying for South Africa as Germany booked their place at the 2010 World Cup without tasting defeat. In their penultimate match on 10 October 2009, Germany secured first place in their qualifying group for the 2010 World Cup by beating second placed Russia in Moscow 1–0, sending Guus Hiddink's side into playoffs.

In the 2010 World Cup, Löw introduced new young players and fielded the second youngest team of the tournament, Germany's youngest since 1934. Germany topped Group D and met England in the first round of the knockout stage, beating them 4–1 before defeating Argentina 4–0 in the quarterfinals. Germany then lost the semi-final to Spain 1–0.[3] On 10 July 2010, they went on to win the third place play-off against Uruguay by 3–2 to collect the bronze medals and third place at the 2010 World Cup.[4]

Euro 2012

Germany qualified for Euro 2012 atop their group with ten wins out of ten matches. During the qualification campaign Löw signed a new contract that will keep him with Germany until 2014.[5] Germany then proceeded to top their group in the tournament, the only team to win all three of their group matches as they defeated Portugal 1–0, Netherlands 2–1 and Denmark 2–1. In the quarter-finals, Germany beat Greece 4–2, but were eliminated in the semi-finals following a 2–1 loss to Italy.[6]

Managerial statistics

As of 18 January 2014
Team From To Record
G W D L Win % Ref.
VfB Stuttgart 14 August 1996[7] 21 May 1998[7] 89 46 20 23 51.69 [7]
Fenerbahçe 1 July 1998[8] 30 May 1999[8] 46 29 8 9 63.04
Karlsruher SC 25 October 1999[8] 17 April 2000[8] 17 1 6 10 05.88 [8]
Adanaspor 20 December 2000[8] 2 March 2001[8] 6 0 2 4 00.00
Wacker Innsbruck 10 October 2001[8] 18 June 2002[8] 25 11 5 9 44.00 [9]
Austria Wien 1 July 2003[8] 24 March 2004[8] 35 16 11 8 45.71 [10]
Germany 12 July 2006[8] Present 101 69 17 15 68.32
Total 319 172 69 78 53.92 —

Coaching honours

VfB Stuttgart
FC Tirol Innsbruck
FK Austria Wien
Germany

Personal life

References

  1. ↑ Peter Martin (2004). Sport-Club Freiburg, ed. Hundert Jahre 90 Minuten: Die Geschichte des SC Freiburg von 1904–2004. Freiburg. 
  2. ↑ Barclay, Patrick (22 June 2008). "Euro 2008: Cristiano Ronaldo's Manchester United posturing put into perspective". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 22 June 2008. 
  3. ↑ "Puyol heads Spain into final". ESPNsoccernet. 7 July 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010. 
  4. ↑ Ornstein, David (10 July 2010). "Uruguay 2–3 Germany". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 July 2010. 
  5. ↑ "Joachim Löw extends contract with Germany until 2014 World Cup". The Guardian. 15 March 2011. Retrieved 27 December 2012. 
  6. ↑ "Germany beat Greece to reach Euro 2012 semifinals". The Times of India. 23 June 2012. Retrieved 25 June 2012. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "VfB Stuttgart" (in German). kicker. Retrieved 18 January 2014. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 8.8 8.9 8.10 8.11 "Joachim Löw" (in German). kicker. Retrieved 18 January 2014. 
  9. ↑ "FC Wacker Innsbruck » Dates & results 2001/2002". World Football. Retrieved 18 January 2014. 
  10. ↑ "Austria Wien » Dates & results 2003/2004". World Football. Retrieved 18 January 2014. 

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