page_title: Joachim Löw
section_title: Euro 2008
hierarchical_section_title: Joachim Löw / Managerial career / 2004–present: German national team / Manager / Euro 2008
caption_attribution_description: English: Joachim Löw und Hans-Dieter Flick during press conference in August 2006. During the press conference Flick was announced to be the new assistant coach of the German national football team. Deutsch: Joachim Löw und Hans-Dieter Flick im August 2006 auf einer Pressekonferenz. Im Rahmen der Pressekonferenz wurde bekannt gegeben, dass Hans-Dieter Flick neuer Co-Trainer der deutschen Nationalmannschaft wird.
context_page_description: Joachim "Jogi" Löw is a German football coach and former player. He is the head coach of the Germany national team, which he led to victory at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia.
context_section_description: On 12 July 2006, following Klinsmann's decision not to renew his contract, Löw was named as the new manager of Germany. Löw obtained a contract for two years and announced that he wanted to continue in the philosophy developed with Klinsmann to play with an offensive style. Löw was particularly concerned with the amount of time his players hold on to the ball before passing. During his tenure, he reduced this time significantly, increasing the pace of the German game. He declared that his aim was to win Euro 2008. His first game in charge, a friendly against Sweden in Gelsenkirchen on 16 August 2006, was a 3–0 success in which Miroslav Klose scored twice and Bernd Schneider scored the other.
  Löw had a successful start in qualifying for Euro 2008 with wins over the Republic of Ireland and San Marino. On 7 October 2006, Germany won 2–0 against Georgia in the Ostseestadion in Rostock, which was the fourth consecutive success for Löw and his team, 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 match, the Euro 2008 qualifier against Slovakia in Bratislava on 11 October, with a 4–1 victory. The Slovaks' strike was the first goal conceded by Germany under Löw's reign.
  The next match saw the end of Löw's perfect record, with the qualifying match on 15 November in Nicosia against Cyprus ending in a disappointing 1–1 draw. 2007 started with a 3–1 win against Switzerland on 7 February and a 2–1 win against the Czech Republic on 24 March. Löw's first loss as manager came in his eighth game on 28 March 2007, an experimental squad lost 0–1 against Denmark. He had given Robert Enke and Patrick Helmes their debuts. When qualification for Euro 2008 was ensured, Löw's record stood at 11 wins, 1 loss and 1 draw from 13 matches and a 41:6 goal difference. This includes the first win over England in London's new Wembley Stadium. Germany lost to the Czech Republic in qualifying on 17 October 2007. This was the second loss for Löw. Germany finished qualifying in second place. In the final match of 2007, Germany and Wales finished in a 0–0 draw.
  Germany started 2008 with 3–0 win against Austria on 6 February and a 4–0 win against Switzerland on 26 March. Then Germany and Belarus finished in a 2–2 draw. Germany had a 2–0 lead at half–time. In their final match before Euro 2008, Germany defeated Serbia 2–1. At Euro 2008, Germany defeated Poland 2–0 in their first game, with two goals from Lukas Podolski. In their second game, Germany were beaten 2–1 by Croatia, while in their final group game, against Austria, Löw was sent to the stands by the referee Manuel Mejuto González – along with his Austrian counterpart Josef Hickersberger – for arguing with the fourth official. Following his dismissal, he was seen talking to Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel about the incident. Nonetheless, Germany won the match 1–0 with a goal from Michael Ballack to progress to the quarter-finals as runners up because of their earlier loss to Croatia.
  Löw changed the 4–4–2 system after the group stages to a 4–2–3–1 system, and left striker Mario Gómez out of the starting lineup. Though he was forced to watch from the sidelines, his team defeated Portugal 3–2. In the quarter-final, Löw was banned from giving any directions to his team even through telephone calls. Later Löw declared that he had put seven different scenarios with his assistant Hansi Flick in order to contain Portugal. In an exciting match against Turkey in the semi-finals, Germany won 3–2. Germany then lost 1–0 to Spain in the final on 29 June 2008.
caption: Löw and his assistant Hans-Dieter Flick in 2006
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