1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Live TV
Latest audioLatest videos
In focus
Russia's war in UkraineIsrael-Hamas warIndia elections

Löw says German side must 'reinvent' itself

André LeslieJanuary 1, 2015

Germany coach Joachim Löw says that his players will have to continue improving in 2015 if they want to repeat their World Cup success. Löw also confirmed that Bastian Schweinsteiger would remain the team's captain.

https://p.dw.com/p/1EE0d
Jogi Löw
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Carmen Jaspersen

Joachim Löw has thrown down the gauntlet to his players at the start of the new footballing year, saying the team will have to "reinvent" itself if it is to continue the success it had in Brazil during the World Cup.

"I have the feeling that we have to retain this good foundation, but also find new solutions," the coach told German news agency DPA. "The target is - in 2016 - to confirm our World Cup victory success."

Löw says that, in order to achieve that, the team has to forget what happened last year in Brazil.

"Titles of the past are worth nothing today or for the future. Now we have to set our sights ahead, we have to reinvent ourselves in certain areas. That is the task at hand," the 54-year-old said.

Germany have found the going tough in their qualifiers for the 2016 European Championships, with Löw's side second in Group D with seven points from four games, three points behind group leaders Poland.

Löw says that his aim is also to end Spain's Euro run of titles (after they won in 2008 and 2012) and to repeat Spain's feat of following up a World Cup win with a Euro title.

Bastian Schweinsteiger
Bastian Schweinsteiger is back playing in the Bundesliga, but is he really at full strength?Image: Getty Images/Bongarts/S. Hofmann

A year in transition

Germany has just 10 internationals in 2015 for the coach to prepare his team for the European Championships in France next year. But, before then, the team still has to qualify as one of the two top sides from their group.

Germany's next game will be a friendly against Australia on March 25 in Kaiserslautern. Four days later the DFB team will head to Georgia for their first European Championship qualifier of 2015. Qualifiers against Gibraltar, Poland, Ireland, Scotland and Georgia follow.

Before then the team's star goalkeeper Manuel Neuer will have found out whether he has won the FIFA Ballon d'Or trophy for the 2014 world footballer of the year, due to be awarded on January 12. The Bayern Munich goalkeeper could also go back to captaining the German side this year too, if incumbent captain Bastian Schweinsteiger continues to struggle with his fitness.

Schweinsteiger has not played for Germany since the World Cup final against Argentina because of injury, but the Bayern Munich midfielder remains a crucial player in the national team, says Löw. The 30-year-old is now one of the most experienced members in the squad, following the post-World Cup departure of DFB heavyweights, Miroslav Klose, Per Mertesacker and Philipp Lahm.

"Bastian is a great strategist in midfield, who still has the physical ability when he is healthy," Löw told DPA.

"He is a wonderful reader of a game, can direct the pace and give the right impetus. He has matured into a leader not only at Bayern, but also with us."