Joachim Low not thinking about possible last game in charge of Germany
Germany manager Joachim Low said he was dismissing thoughts that the last-16 clash with England at Wembley on Tuesday could be his last in charge of the national side.
The head coach has been in charge since replacing Jurgen Klinsmann in 2006, but in March it was announced that the 61-year-old will be ending his contract early.
“To be honest I don’t think about it, I have so many other thoughts in my head at the moment,” said Low.
“There’s great anticipation and great joy, for this you become coach, this is my joy and my passion to compete in such matches as tomorrow night.
“My whole focus is on the match tomorrow night and I hope that we will succeed.”
England go into Tuesday’s game having not won a knockout game at a European Championship since beating Spain on penalties in the quarter-final at Euro 96.
Germany have won the tournament on three occasions and have also lost three finals, but Low expects Tuesday’s game to be difficult.
“We shouldn’t think about maybe trying to present a lot of spectacular or beautiful football and in the end lose it, you want to win such a match and you can win such a match only if you show a good performance,” he said.
“Both teams are playing at a very good level and so we have to throw in everything that we have, be calm in certain situations, be cool in certain situations, don’t get out of your match.
“So as a coach I want to win this match, we want to win this match and at the end we want to make it into the next round, it doesn’t matter what happens on the pitch but we need to win the decisive key moments.”
Low could be without Ilkay Gundogan, Antonio Rudiger and Robin Gosens for the match, with the former suffering from a cranial bruise, while the other two have contracted colds.
England vs Germany - Match Preview
Germany manager Joachim Low said he was dismissing thoughts that the last-16 clash with England at Wembley on Tuesday could be his last in charge of the national side.
The head coach has been in charge since replacing Jurgen Klinsmann in 2006, but in March it was announced that the 61-year-old will be ending his contract early.
“To be honest I don’t think about it, I have so many other thoughts in my head at the moment,” said Low.
“There’s great anticipation and great joy, for this you become coach, this is my joy and my passion to compete in such matches as tomorrow night.
“My whole focus is on the match tomorrow night and I hope that we will succeed.”
England go into Tuesday’s game having not won a knockout game at a European Championship since beating Spain on penalties in the quarter-final at Euro 96.
Germany have won the tournament on three occasions and have also lost three finals, but Low expects Tuesday’s game to be difficult.
“We shouldn’t think about maybe trying to present a lot of spectacular or beautiful football and in the end lose it, you want to win such a match and you can win such a match only if you show a good performance,” he said.
“Both teams are playing at a very good level and so we have to throw in everything that we have, be calm in certain situations, be cool in certain situations, don’t get out of your match.
“So as a coach I want to win this match, we want to win this match and at the end we want to make it into the next round, it doesn’t matter what happens on the pitch but we need to win the decisive key moments.”
Low could be without Ilkay Gundogan, Antonio Rudiger and Robin Gosens for the match, with the former suffering from a cranial bruise, while the other two have contracted colds.
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Germany - Last 5 Matches