Berlin (AFP)

Joachim Löw, Germany coach since 2006, will leave his post at the end of the Euro which will take place this summer, the German Football Association (DFB) announced on Tuesday.

Löw, 61, said in a statement "full of pride and enormous gratitude" after fifteen years at the helm of the Nationalmannschaft, which he led to the world title in 2014 in Brazil.

He himself asked the German Federation (DFB) to end his contract, which was initially to last until the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, immediately after the end of the 2020 European Championship, postponed to 'one year because of the health crisis, which the DFB accepted.

"I take this step in all conscience, with great pride and immense gratitude, but at the same time with great unwavering motivation regarding the next tournament of the European Championship," he explained.

"I will do my best to bring great joy to our fans in this tournament and to succeed. I also know that this applies to the whole team," he added.

For Euro-2020, Germany is in a difficult pool with Portugal, Hungary but especially France, crowned with the world title in 2018 in Russia.

Assistant to Jürgen Klinsmann between 2004 and 2006, he replaced him at the end of the World Cup in Germany, finished in third place.

At its head, he will reach the final of Euro-2008 (lost 0-1 against Spain), twice the semi-finals of Euro-2012 and 2016 or the half of the World-2010 in South Africa. .

His greatest success, however, will remain the victory at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil against Argentina's Messi (1-0).

However, after the resounding failure of the last Russian World Cup in which Germany did not even come out of the pools, Joachim Löw had to face increasingly harsh criticism.

He has since dragged his decision to rejuvenate the workforce by ousting a large part of the world champions: defenders Mats Hummels and Jérôme Boateng and midfielder Thomas Müller.

While the latter have become competitive again in the club and in the face of the difficulties encountered in recent months by the Mannschaft, without a real leader in his team, Joachim Löw continued to keep them away, drawing the wrath of the German press.

But last week he opened the door to their return to selection.

© 2021 AFP