page_title: Germany national football team manager
section_title: Reunification and decline
hierarchical_section_title: Germany national football team manager / History / Reunification and decline
context_page_description: The Germany national football team manager is a position created in 1926 and first held by Otto Nerz. The German team began playing matches in 1908, but for 18 years it had no manager. Instead a selection committee chose the team.
  Ten men have occupied the post since its inception, all of whom are German. Seven of the ten have previously played for the national team, the exceptions being Nerz, Erich Ribbeck, and current incumbent Joachim Löw. Many of the managers previously served as assistant to their predecessor; each of the three managers after Nerz had worked under the previous incumbent, and the current manager, Löw, was assistant to Jürgen Klinsmann from 2004 to 2006. More recently, though, the trend has been towards former players with little in the way of coaching experience.
  From 1936 to 1998, the team had just five managers, each of whom won a major trophy, with Helmut Schön winning two. The last sixteen years has seen four people in the role.
  The title Bundestrainer has been in use since 1950 – prior to 1942 the role was titled Reichstrainer.
context_section_description: Vogts took on a now-reunified Germany, and led the team, including players from the former East Germany, to the final of Euro 1992, only to lose against underdogs Denmark. Germany were eliminated from the 1994 World Cup in similarly dramatic fashion, losing against Bulgaria in the quarter-finals. Vogts' greatest achievement was the 1996 European Championship, which Germany won, beating the Czech Republic in the final, thanks to a golden goal from Oliver Bierhoff. However, the 1998 World Cup proved unsuccessful, with an ageing German team knocked out by Croatia in the quarter-final. Vogts resigned shortly afterwards.
  The DFB announced that Paul Breitner, another player from the 1970s team, would be Vogts' replacement, only to go back on this decision after just 17 hours. Eventually a manager was appointed: Erich Ribbeck, who had managed several top German clubs, and had been assistant to Jupp Derwall, but was now 61, and in semi-retirement. The talent pool in Germany at this time was poor, with few young players emerging, and Ribbeck oversaw a disastrous Euro 2000 campaign, with Germany eliminated in the first round, with just one point from their three group games. This led to Ribbeck's immediate resignation.
caption: Berti Vogts, manager from 1990 to 1998
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