Joachim Loew is the current head coach of the German national team and a former midfielder from Germany. Loew began his playing career at SC Freiburg, in the second division of German football. Two years later, in 1980, he moved to VFB Stuttgart in the top flight, but failed to play any significant part in the club.
He was out of Stuttgart at the end of the season, finding his way to Eintracht Frankfurt. After a single season with 24 appearances and 5 goals, Joachim Loew was in the Freiburg setup again, in 1982-83. His goal scoring improved and after 8 in his first season, Loew scored 17 goals in his second. Still playing in the second division, Loew’s performances got noticed by Bundesliga side Karlsruher SC. However, 2 goals in 24 games later, he was back at Freiburg.
Over the next four seasons, Loew had 38 goals from 116 matches, before moving onto Switzerland to end his playing career. At FC Schaffhausen, Loew played three seasons and then moved onto FC Winterthur in 1992. For two more seasons, FC Winterthur employed the services of Loew before the future coach decided to bring an end to his playing career.
| Position | Midfielder |
| Height / weight | 1.82 m / |
| Born | 3 Feb 1960 |
| Nationality |
Germany
|
| Nickname | Yogi |
| Team History | |
| FC Frauenfeld | 1994 - 1995 |
| FC Winterthur | 1992 - 1994 |
FCS
|
1989 - 1992 |
Freiburg
|
1985 - 1989 |
Karlsruher
|
1984 - 1985 |
|
Freiburg
|
1982 - 1984 |
Eintracht
|
1981 - 1982 |
VfB Stuttgart
|
1980 - 1981 |
|
Freiburg
|
1978 - 1980 |
At the international level, Loew played just four times for the German Under-21 national team and never for the senior side.
Coaching
Loew began his coaching career at the youth level at FC Winterthur. This was in 1994-95, when he was still in his final season as a player. In 1994-95, he moved to FC Frauenfeld as the head coach. After an eventless season, Loew moved to VFB Stuttgart, in 1995-96, as assistant to Rolf Fringer. However, in August 1996, Fringer got a chance to coach the Swiss national team and with him out of the way, Loew had to take up the post of caretaker manager for the time-being.
Loew performed admirably and at the end of season, was named as the permanent head coach. On the backs of Krassimir Balakov, Giovane Elber and Fredi Bobic, Loew created a solid unit that went on to win the German Cup. The following season, Loew led Stuttgart to the finals of the European Cup Winners’ Cup but lost to Chelsea.
In 1998, Loew finally left Stuttgart and moved to Turkey to join Fenerbahce.
A year later, Loew moved to Karlsruher SC in a bid to help the team avoid relegation. However, he was unable to keep the team in second division and returned to Turkey, this time to Adanaspor. A third straight coaching stint full of poor results meant that Loew would be on the way out again.
Loew set his sights on Austria and in 2001, movd to Tirol Innsbruck where he led the team to the Austrian Championships. However, the club was forced to declare bankruptcy at the end of the season, leaving Loew to look for another job. He moved to Austria Wien in 2003, staying there till the end of the 2004 season.
German Acquaintance
Surprisingly, Loew decided to quit the coaching job in Austria and joined the German national team as the assistant to Jurgen Klinsmann. Klinsmann sought to use a more attacking philosophy and required the efforts of Loew, a more accomplished tactician, to help him serve these out.
The team looked set and under Klinsmann and Loew, reached the semi-finals of the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2005. Germany eventually ended up third, beating Portugal.
At the 2006 World Cup, Germany took everyone by surprise, winning all three of their group games with aplomb and style. They swept Sweden aside before beating Argentina over penalties. Their journey ended in the semi-finals, against Italy, losing on an Extra time goal. Germany ended the World Cup in third place.
Klinsmann decided against renewing his contract and Loew was directly promoted to the top job.
As the German head coach, Loew continued on the same philosophy and led them into the 2008 European Championships as one of the favourites.
After an outstanding performance throughout the tournament, Germany reached the finals where they met Spain. However, again Germany fell close to the final hurdle as Spain beat them 1-nil to win the title. Germany easily qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and Loew was again looking on top of things as Germany romped home in fine style, against Australia (4-0). After a couple of hiccups, including a loss to Serbia (0-1) and a poor win against Ghana (1-0), Germany faced rivals England in the Round of 16.
Loew’s Germany overpowered England 4-1 to go on to meet another old foe in Argentina. Maradona’s Argentina was swept aside 4-nil as Germany surely looked favourites to win the title. However, it wasn’t to be as Loew’s side were completely shut down by Spain in a 0-1 loss. Germany went on to grab third place again, in a spectacular encounter against Uruguay.
