The German team manager Oliver Bierhoff has said that he expects the national team manager Joachim Loew to return strongly after a small break. Germany have been excellent in the last four major tournaments, but they have finished in the runners-up and the semi-final positions in each and every one of them. As a result, there is a feeling that Joachim Loew might have taken Germany to the peak, but Oliver Bierhoff disagrees with this argument. He has said that the 42-year-old has all it takes to help make Germany a winner once again, and that it will be only a matter of time.
Due to the younger age of the squad, Germany are once again expected to be the favourites for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. They came into the Euro 2012 as one of favourites to win the competition, but were beaten 2-1 by Italy in the quarter-final stage. Even though they had been unbeaten in the competition up until then, a very poor performance in the final stages has once again been the reason for the downfall in a major competition. Oliver Bierhoff has said that there were discussions about the strength of Ottmar Hitzfeld after he lost the 1999 Champions League final with Bayern Munich, but he later went on to lift the title within two years.
“Jogi Loew will analyse the game against Italy for himself and he will soon find the energy again for the next stretch. I am not worried about Jogi. In 1999 Bayern (Munich) lost the Champions League final with Ottmar Hitzfeld and there was a big discussion. Two years later they then won the final,” said the German team manager Oliver Bierhoff after reports in the media suggested that Joachim Loew will step down from the national team manager’s post.