Germany manager Joachim Loew claims that he is happy with the outcome of the World Cup 2018 qualification draw. Qualification to this competition will be an extensive process with almost every team from the world competing for a position. Despite being the reigning holders of the World Cup, Germany will have to go through a qualification phase just like everybody else. They recently learned that their stage opponents will be the Czech Republic, Norway, Northern Ireland, San Marino, and Azerbaijan. Thus, they have avoided heavyweights like the France and Italy. There was a possibility of being grouped alongside such tough opponents.

Loew finally proved to the World Cup 2014 that he is a manager capable of winning trophies. The 55-year-old had raised a lot of doubts in recent years after his repeated failures on the final stages of the tournament. Since taking over from Jurgen Klinsmann,Loew had guided Germany to the finals of the Euro 2012. The 55-year-old, though, warned his team against complacency about qualifying for the World Cup. The national team still have the core players who were responsible for the World Cup triumph. The big task forLoew will be to find replacements for the likes of Miroslav Klose, who have retired from international action. Continue reading

Joachim Loew has stated that he is extremely disappointed with the fact that Germany conceded too late goals to suffer a 2-1 defeat against United States in recent friendly. Germany were seen as overwhelming favourites to secure a victory, which would have been an ideal preparation for the upcoming Euro 2016 qualifiers. Since winning the World Cup 2014, Germany have been on an inconsistent run of form. This form has seen them concede the top position in their group to Poland, who have a slender one-point advantage. Scotland are not too far behind and they trail Germany by just two points.

This puts the team in a precarious position and in need of a convincing win in the upcoming Euro 2016 qualifiers against Gibraltar. Germany are expected to win it quite comfortably, but an ideal preparation would be to get the win over United States. This, however, has not happened after the Germans suffered a shock 3-2 defeat. Despite taking advantage in the game, they were unable to hold the position for much longer. Mario Gotze gave the team a lead in the 12th minute but they let in poor goals to lose the game. The result, though, is a huge bonus for opposition manager Jurgen Klinsmann and his men. Continue reading

Following a successful 2014 World Cup campaign, Joachim Low has decided to extend his contract as the manager of the German national side at least until 2018. In a press conference that was recently held, it was announced to the public that the 55 year old manager is going to be in charge of the German team through the upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia and they are aiming on winning it once more.

“It was a decision where my heart and my mind both said yes. We waited a long time for the success that we had in Brazil and we all want to experience that again. We have the prerequisites to achieve it once more.” Germany’s Joachim Low said during the press conference.

The assistant coach, Thomas Schneider as well as the goalkeeping coach Andreas Kopke has also opted to extend their respective contracts until 2018 as not many changes are going to be done within the managerial staff of the German team.

Italy and Brazil are the only national sides that have been able to win successive World Cup titles but Germany wants to make it happen as Joachim Low’s squad are aiming to defend their title in the upcoming international competition. Continue reading