Löw Joachim life and biography

Joachim "Jogi" Löw (born 3 February 1960 in Schönau im Schwarzwald) was the coach of the German national football team from 2006 until 2021; he is also a former football midfielder.

* Previous Clubs: VfB Stuttgart; Fenerbahçe; Karlsruher SC; Adanaspor; FC Tirol Innsbruck; Austria Wien; Germany (assistant).

With an impressive record in charge of Germany, Joachim Löw has established himself as one of the leading bosses in international football.

After a mediocre playing career that saw the attacking midfielder earn four Under-21 caps but never make a senior appearance for Germany, Löw became a near instant success as a boss. Having learned the ropes as player-coach at Swiss minnows FC Winterthur and FC Frauenfeld, he returned to VfB Stuttgart as assistant to Rolf Fringer before becoming caretaker and then team manager.

He led the team to domestic cup success in the DFB-Pokal in 1997 and to the final of the Cup Winners' Cup the following year, where they lost 1-0 to Chelsea. In the following seasons, he became a popular figure in Turkey during spells in charge of Fenerbahce (1998-99) and Adanaspor (2001), and won the Austrian championship with the now-defunct FC Tirol Innsbruck in 2002 before heading to Austria Vienna.

In 2004, Jürgen Klinsmann brought him into the Germany set-up as his assistant to provide the coaching expertise to match his passion. The duo led the side to third place in the 2005 Confederations Cup after losing to eventual winners Brazil in the semi-finals and then repeated the feat in the 2006 World Cup, finishing third after a late semi-final defeat to eventual winners Italy.

Despite the team's success in the tournament, Klinsmann resigned the following month for personal reasons and Löw was installed in his place. Qualifying for Euro 2008 with few problems, Löw then guided the side to the final, where they were beaten 1-0 by Spain. Germany's impressive form continued in the World Cup 2010 qualifiers, as he topped Group Four and finished four points ahead of Guus Hiddink's Russia.

Strengths:
Löw is an intelligent tactician and prepares his teams well for upcoming matches. His record also suggests that, while his players have not won any silverware, he can inspire them to get the results they need to progress.

Weaknesses:
Löw has plenty of critics and there is a feeling that, despite the good results, performances have not been up to the same standard for some time. Some feel that he is too inflexible when it comes to tactics and his selection policy has come under fire. Germany skipper Michael Ballack also publicly criticised Löw for his treatment of several players.

Career high:
His greatest moments have come with the national side, even if the tournaments in both 2006 and 2008 ultimately ended in failure.

Career low:
Taking over Karlsruher in 1999, the financially unstable side finished bottom of the second tier that season and he was dismissed.

Tactics:
Löw depends on a strong midfield but favours a 4-4-2 formation, with Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose up front. He has also utilised 4-2-3-1 and, in their final World Cup qualifier against Finland, Löw attempted a more experimental formation with Brazilian-born Stuttgart forward Cacau seemingly given a free role.

Trivia:
Having received a ban for arguing with the fourth official during the Euro 2008 group game against Austria, Löw was penalised by being sent to the stands and subsequently showed a penchant for chain-smoking.

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