Joachim "Jogi" Löw (born 3 February 1960 in Schönau im Schwarzwald is the coach of the German national football team and a former German football striker.
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. 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 F.C. 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 employment 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 them. 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 June 9th against Costa Rica 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 2 Bastian Schweinsteiger goals. The success gave Löw and especially Klinsmann iconic status in Germany.
Head coach of Germany
On 12 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 wants to continue in the philosophy developed by Klinsmann and himself. He declared that his aim is to triumph at Euro 2008. His first game in charge, a friendly against Sweden in Gelsenkirchen on August 16, 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 October 7, 2006 the German "Elf" won 2-0 against Georgia in the Ostseestadion in Rostock, which was the 4th 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 October 11, 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 November 15 qualifier in Nicosia against Cyprus (Euro 2008 qualification match) ending in a disappointing 1-1 draw. On February 7, 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 March 28, 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 means that following the match Löw's record stood at 11 wins, 1 loss, and 1 draw from 12 matches and a 41:6 goal difference.
Löw adopts with the German National Team the same philosophy his predecessor used. To a great extent the very same formation is being used, that is 4-4-2 (diamond variation) with particular emphasis on wing backs. With Philipp Lahm developing into an obvious world class talent, Löw relies on him heavily either as a left wing back or a right wing back. The midfield structure is based mainly on a pivotal midfield defender, preferably played by Torsten Frings, who would smoothly rotate the ball among a sharply thrusting midfield. This Klinsmann aggressive approach has been implemented since the preparation for the 2006 world cup. The players are becoming more adapted to it and they have markedly matured acquiring better skills and efficiency in imposing these tactics on their opponents.
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and the good news!!! löw and his training team will stick with the german NT till 2010!
QUOTE
Germany coach Joachim Low has celebrated his side's qualification for Euro 2008 by signing a new contract.
Germany became first nation to qualify for Euro 2008 after a 0-0 draw with the Republic of Ireland a fortnight ago and Low has been rewarded with a deal that will take him through to the 2010 World Cup.
"I am absolutely delighted to continue working with my team for the next few years," said Low at a meeting of the German Football Association (DFB) on Thursday.
"Our aim will be to push on with the development of the team and also football in Germany in general."
Meanwhile, Silvia Neid, who led the Germany women's team to World Cup glory last month, has also been rewarded with a new contract until 2013.
"I am very happy to have been able to extend the contracts of Joachim Low and Silvia Neid," said DFB president Dr Theo Zwanziger.
"I am looking forward to the continuation of our work with two competent and successful coaches and their teams."
Germany became first nation to qualify for Euro 2008 after a 0-0 draw with the Republic of Ireland a fortnight ago and Low has been rewarded with a deal that will take him through to the 2010 World Cup.
"I am absolutely delighted to continue working with my team for the next few years," said Low at a meeting of the German Football Association (DFB) on Thursday.
"Our aim will be to push on with the development of the team and also football in Germany in general."
Meanwhile, Silvia Neid, who led the Germany women's team to World Cup glory last month, has also been rewarded with a new contract until 2013.
"I am very happy to have been able to extend the contracts of Joachim Low and Silvia Neid," said DFB president Dr Theo Zwanziger.
"I am looking forward to the continuation of our work with two competent and successful coaches and their teams."
think he is one of the best choices germany had and has. i am really happy to see him planning to work with the team till the WC 2010. that way we can build a top team. of course a lot can happen and he might be gone earlier. but i am very optimistic and i can see him stick with us and our team for a while. no secret i am a huge fan of him. i´ll update this thread tomorrow with some facts about him.
alex if you feel this might end useless... do what the rest does... let a thread dissapear
