‘Loew to stay on as Germany coach despite Spain debacle’

SEVILLE: Germany coach Joachim Loew is not in danger of losing his job ater they were thrashed 6-0 by Spain in their final Nations League group match, national team director Oliver Bierhoff has said.

Germany have hit a rough patch this year, winning only three of their last eight matches, but Bierhoff said Loew would remain in charge at least until the Euros next year.

When asked if Loew would remain the coach until next year’s Euros, Bierhoff told ARD TV: “Absolutely, yes. This game changes nothing. We still trust Joachim Loew, no doubt about that.

“With the national team, you have to think and analyse from tournament to tournament. We want to achieve the maximum at next year’s Euros.”

The Euros were originally scheduled for JuneJuly this year but the tournament was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Germany needed only a draw to progress to the Nations League semi-finals but the result ensured Spain advanced as the top ranked team in the group.

‘BLACK DAY’: Loew admited it was a “black day” for Germany.

“This has been a black day for us,” admited Loew ater Germany’s heaviest defeat since losing 6-0 to Austria in Berlin in 1931.

“We completely lost track of our plan ater we went 1-0 down, which was deadly and the Spanish took their chances.

“Nothing worked, neither in defence nor atack. “We let huge spaces, there was a lack of communication between the players.”

The thrashing was double that of Loew’s previous worst defeat as Germany coach, when his side lost by 3-0 to both the Czech Republic in 2007 and to the Netherlands in 2018.