Joachim Löw

Joachim Löw

Personal information
Position(s)	Attacking Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Germany (Manager)
Youth career
	TuS Schönau 1896
	FC Schönau
	Eintracht Freiburg
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1978–1980	SC Freiburg	71	(18)
1980–1981	VfB Stuttgart	4	(0)
1981–1982	Eintracht Frankfurt	24	(5)
1982–1984	SC Freiburg	65	(25)
1984–1985	Karlsruher SC	24	(2)
1985–1989	SC Freiburg	116	(28)
1989–1992	FC Schaffhausen
1992–1994	FC Winterthur
1994–1995	FC Frauenfeld
Managerial career
1996–1998	VfB Stuttgart
1998–1999	Fenerbahçe
1999–2000	Karlsruher SC
2001	Adanaspor
2001–2002	FC Tirol Innsbruck
2003–2004	Austria Wien
2004–2006	Germany (assistant)
2006–	Germany
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Template:Foreignchar Joachim "Jogi" Löw (German pronunciation: [joˈʔaxiːm (ˈjoːɡi) ˈløːf]; born 3 February 1960 in Schönau im Schwarzwald) is the coach of the German national football team and a former football midfielder.

Career as a player

In 1978 Löw started his playing career with Second League team SC Freiburg. He returned to the club twice (1982, 1985). In 1980 Löw joined VfB Stuttgart in the Fußball-Bundesliga, but he had difficulties in establishing himself and played only four matches (no goals). 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 8 goals (34 matches), 1983–84 he scored 17 goals (31 matches) in the 2. Fußball-Bundesliga. Afterwards he returned to the Bundesliga with Karlsruher SC, but again he failed to succeed and scored only two goals in 24 matches. Later, he joined Freiburg again for four years (116 matches, 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.

Coaching

Club coach and assistant coach of Germany

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.

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

Löw left Stuttgart in July 1998 and joined Fenerbahçe S.K. 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.

In October 2001 Löw became coach of FC 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 next job was with Austria Wien (June 2003 – March 2004), before Löw surprisingly became assistant coach of Germany under Jürgen Klinsmann on 1 August 2004. Klinsmann and Löw had met at a coaching school years ago and the instant Klinsmann was appointed he called on Löw to serve with him. Klinsmann brought in a new attacking philosophy and used Löw, a far more talented tactician, to implement his ideas. The charismatic and highly influential Klinsmann and the tactically smart and also well-liked Löw formed a formidable team, reaching the semi-final of the Confederations Cup before losing to Brazil 3-2 in the best match of the tournament. Germany would defeat Mexico 4-3 after extra time in the third place match.

When Germany opened the 2006 FIFA World Cup on 9 June against Costa Rica in Munich the new tactics Löw and Klinsmann had introduced were put on display as Germany won 4–2 in a highly exciting match. A lucky but well-earned 1–0 victory over Poland and a 3–0 over Ecuador followed. Germany was swept up in a wave of hope and the crowds were something the World Cup, and Germany in particular had never seen before. They would sweep aside Sweden in the Round of 16 in a superb performance with two Lukas Podolski goals, followed by a grueling battle with Argentina. Germany would emerge victorious on penalties after finishing extra time at 1–1. The semi-final match with Italy arguably was the best match of the tournament. It 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, Löw helped Klinsmann rally the troops and they turned in a brilliant performance against Portugal in the third place match, winning 3–1 on two Bastian Schweinsteiger goals. The success gave Löw and especially Klinsmann iconic status in Germany.

Head coach of Germany

Löw and his assistant Hans-Dieter Flick, 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 by Klinsmann and himself. 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 "Elf" won 2–0 against Georgia in the Ostseestadion in Rostock, which was the fourth consecutive success for Joachim Löw and his team, in fact 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 (Euro 2008 qualification match) ending in a disappointing 1–1 draw. On 7 February 2007, in a friendly in Düsseldorf, Germany beat Switzerland 3-1. On the 24 March 2007 a 2–1 away-win against the Czech Republic (the strongest competitors for the Euro 2008 Qualifying Group D lead). The winning streak ended on 28 March 2007, right after the triumph against the Czechs when Löw used an experimental squad against Denmark where the team lost 0–1. After that match they won against San Marino 6–0 and Slovakia 2–1 for the Euro 2008 qualifiers and also against England 2–1 at the new Wembley Stadium and Wales 2–0. This result meant that following the match Löw's record stood at 11 wins, 1 loss, and 1 draw from 13 matches and a 41:6 goal difference.

In Euro 2008, as one of the favorites for the competition, 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 and progressed to the Quarter Finals of the tournament. Here, though he was forced to watch from the sidelines, his team defeated Portugal 3-2. In a highly exciting match against Turkey in the semi-finals, Germany won 3-2. Germany then lost 0-1 to Spain in the European Championship final on 29 June 2008.

Personal life

Löw lives in Freiburg with his wife Daniela.

Success (as coach)

• VfB Stuttgart:

DFB-Pokal in 1997

Finalist European Cup Winners' Cup in 1998

• FC Wacker Tirol:

Austrian championship in 2002

• Germany national football team:

3rd place in 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup (as assistant to Jürgen Klinsmann)

3rd place in 2006 FIFA World Cup (as assistant to Jürgen Klinsmann)

Finalist Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland

External links

• Joachim Löw at dfb.de