Joachim Löw

Joachim Löw

Personal information
Full name	Joachim Löw
Date of birth	3 February 1960 (1960-02-03)
Place of birth	Schönau, West Germany
Height	1.82 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current club	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
National team
1979–1980	West Germany U-21	4	(0)
Teams managed
1994	FC Winterthur (youth)
1994–1995	FC Frauenfeld
1995–1996	VfB Stuttgart (assistant)
1996–1998	VfB Stuttgart
1998–1999	Fenerbahçe
1999–2000	Karlsruher SC
2001	Adanaspor
2001–2002	FC Tirol Innsbruck
2003–2004	FK Austria Wien
2004–2006	Germany (assistant)
2006–	Germany
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

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 2. Bundesliga club SC Freiburg. He returned to the club twice (1982, 1985). In 1980, Löw joined VfB Stuttgart in the Fußball-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.

Club coach

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, his team finished fourth in the Bundesliga and reached the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup, but they lost 1–0 against Chelsea.

Löw left Stuttgart in July 1998 and joined 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.

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).

Assistant coach of Germany

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. Germanys 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, Klinsmanns 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 of Germany

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. Löws 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, 1 loss, and 1 draw from 13 matches and a 41:6 goal difference, this includes the first win over England in Londons 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. 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 introduces 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. 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.

Euro 2012

Germany qualified for Euro 2012 top 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.

Successes (as coach)

• VfB Stuttgart:

DFB-Pokal in 1997

Finalist European Cup Winners' Cup in 1998

• FC Tirol Innsbruck:

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)

2nd place in UEFA Euro 2008

3rd place in 2010 FIFA World Cup

Statistics

As of 16 November 2011 (2011 -11-16)

Type	From	To
			G	W	D	L
Friendly matches	Aug 2006	Present	31	18	8	5
Euro 2008 Qualifiers	Sept 2006	Nov 2007	12	8	3	1
Euro 2008	June 2008	Aug 2008	6	4	0	2
World Cup 2010 Qualifiers	Sept 2008	Oct 2009	10	8	2	0
World Cup 2010	June 2010	July 2010	7	5	0	2
Euro 2012 Qualifiers	Sept 2010	Oct 2011	10	10	0	0
Total			76	53	13	10

External links

• Joachim Löw at the German Football Association