Loew led Germany's young team to a third-place finish at the
World Cup in South Africa this month.
“We had very uncomplicated talks,” the 50-year-old Loew said
Tuesday at a news conference at the seat of the football federation in Frankfurt.
“We are very pleased to continue working with the team, we all had a lot of fun
with the team during the World Cup.”
Loew had been out of contract since the end of the
tournament. Earlier talks on an extension stalled in February over several
issues, including payment.
“Our team has an excellent future and it's a great challenge
now to start preparing for the European Championship after the successful World
Cup,” Loew said.
“We are sure that the team can raise its international
recognition through modern and attractive football,” Loew said.
Federation president Theo Zwanziger also called the contract
extension talks “uncomplicated” and said some “critical points” had been
quickly solved.
“We have young talented players who have already shown a lot
of class and we have a trainer that fits this team,” Zwanziger said.
Zwanziger, whose relationship with Loew cooled considerably
after the collapse of the earlier contract talks, had strongly endorsed the
coach during the World Cup, especially after Germany's emphatic wins over
England and Argentina.
Loew declined to be drawn into a discussion about the future
captain of the team and did not give a clear endorsement to Michael Ballack,
who missed the World Cup because of an ankle injury.
“It's not the proper time to address this issue,” Loew said.
In Ballack's absence, Bayern Munich defender Philipp Lahm
was the team's captain for the World Cup and said before the end of the
tournament that he wanted to keep the armband.
Ballack has returned to the Bundesliga to sign for Bayer
Leverkusen and told reporters last week he still considers himself the captain
of the national team.
“Ballack has been a very important and deserving player
until now,”Loew said. “It's important for him now to get over the injury and
into a normal training rhythm and start playing again.” Loew said he had talked
to Ballack last week and would do so again before the Aug. 11 friendly in
Denmark.
While also being aware of Lahm's ambition to remain captain,
Loew said it was “ultimately the coach's decision and I haven't made the final
decision yet.”
