Hansi Flick has been confirmed as the new manager of the Germany national team for after this summer’s Euro 2020 tournament. Joachim Low, who has been in charge of Germany since 2006, will oversee his final competition this summer, closing a spell that has seen him win the 2017 Confederations Cup and the 2014 World Cup.
Hansi Flick to Replace Joachim Low as Germany Manager
Flick ‘Excited’ to Take Over
Fifty-six-year-old Flick left Bayern Munich at the end of this season after expressing a desire to become the next manager of the German national team. He leaves them as Bundesliga champions and with an incredible haul of seven trophies since taking over in 2019 – two Bundesliga titles, the DFB-Pokal, the Champions League, the DFL-Supercup, the UEFA Supercup and the Club World Cup. He also departs with a win percentage of 83%, one of the highest rates in football history.
This new spell with the national side will begin on July 1, 2020, once the European Championships have concluded. Low’s contract was set to run until 2022 so that he would have been in charge for the World Cup in Qatar, but he had already agreed to end the deal early.
BREAKING: Hansi #Flick will become the new Germany national team head coach following @EURO2020 ✍️#DieMannschaft pic.twitter.com/2CpxjIsQSn
— Germany (@DFB_Team_EN) May 25, 2021
Flick is no stranger to the national team, though, having been the assistant manager between 2006 and 2014, thus being part of the coaching team that led Germany to World Cup success in Brazil in 2014. After that, he became the sporting director of the DFB before taking up the same role at Hoffenheim and then moving on to Bayern in 2019.
Commenting on his appointment to the role, Flick said: “Everything happened very quickly, especially signing the contract, but I’m really happy to be the Germany head coach from autumn. The season has just finished and the last two years at FC Bayern have left their mark on me. The team spirit and attitude of the players were excellent and I will take plenty with me that will help my work in my new role.
“I’m really excited because of the class of players we have in Germany, especially the youngsters. We’ve got every reason to be optimistic about future tournaments, including the home EUROs in 2024. From experience, I know that Oliver Bierhoff [DFB director of national teams and academy] will be a strong, trustworthy partner and that the staff behind the scenes will help to ensure that we won’t need too long to get going.”
Low’s Last Dance
After World Cup success in 2014 and a semi-final appearance at Euro 2016, things have since declined for the Germany national team under Joachim Low. They crashed out at the group stage of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, finishing bottom of a group containing Sweden, Mexico and South Korea. While their sole win did actually come against the eventual group winners in Sweden, thus giving them a chance to get through, defeat to South Korea in the final match meant it was the first time since 1938 that they had not gone beyond the group stages.
In the inaugural UEFA Nations League tournament in 2018/19, Germany’s poor form on the national stage continued as they finished bottom of Group A1, containing the Netherlands and France. Had the tournament not been restructured for the following tournament, Low’s team would have been relegated to League B. Instead, they secured a second-place finish in Group A4 in the 2020/21 edition, although only won two of their six games and failed to qualify for the Nations League finals.
This coming European Championship will be Low’s last chance to add to the World Cup success of 2014 before he makes way for Hansi Flick. He has made Germany a force to be reckoned with on the international stage, even with the disappointments of recent tournaments. He will no doubt be desperate to go out on a high note this summer.
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