Sad farewell for 'eternal coach'

LONDON • Joachim Low led Germany to the high of their 2014 World Cup triumph, but his 15-year reign as coach ended on Tuesday with the low of a defeat by England in the last 16 of Euro 2020.

Their 2-0 loss was their first against England in the knockout stage of a major tournament since the 1966 World Cup final.

It was a sad end for the 61-year-old, who had been at Germany's helm since 2006, leading the team to the final of Euro 2008 and the semi-finals of the 2010 World Cup, Euro 2012 and Euro 2016.

His stay in the hot seat rivals Angela Merkel's 16 years in office as chancellor, earning Low the nickname of "eternal coach".

Under Low, Germany ditched their defence-first reputation and began to play at a faster tempo.

The coach himself became an icon in Germany, particularly after their World Cup triumph, and began appearing in advertisements, peddling skincare products for Nivea and holidays with travel firm Tui.

But he never really recovered from the low of the 2018 World Cup, when Die Mannschaft finished bottom of their group, failing to progress to the next round for the first time in 80 years.

He will walk away with his once-golden reputation tarnished not only by their disastrous World Cup campaign, but also a string of subsequent defeats.

Calls for him to step down were already loud after the debacle three years ago and although he vowed to persevere, a rattled Low announced in March that Euro 2020 would be his last tournament.

A poll at the end of November found that 84 per cent of Germany fans wanted him to go, while the German media had turned on him.

Nevertheless, his record of 124 wins in 198 matches as Germany coach is a tally in the record books which will likely stand for quite some time and his players remain grateful for his guidance.

Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos said: "When he took over, Germany started to play football. He did a lot for German football, we shouldn't forget about that."

Captain Manuel Neuer added: "We owe him a lot. He is a great person. That it's coming to an end like this is a shame and very sad."

His replacement Hansi Flick, who masterminded Bayern Munich's treble-winning season in 2019-20, takes charge in time for September's World Cup qualifiers.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, XINHUA