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Joachim Löw in his last game as national coach at the EM in the summer against England.
Germany dropped out
Photo:
Christian Charisius / dpa
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier honored world champion coach Joachim Löw for his services as national coach at a lunch at Bellevue Palace.
"You have given the people of this country many moments that will remain in the memory of our nation," said Steinmeier according to the speech that was published by the Office of the Federal President.
Accordingly, Steinmeier continued: "Today we are honoring a innovator and visionary who has brought German football back to the top of the world."
The 61-year-old Löw resigned at the end of June after being eliminated in the European Championship round of 16 against England (0: 2) after 15 years as national coach and a total of 17 years with the German Football Association (DFB).
Even before the tournament, he had announced the end of his term of office.
He had looked after the DFB selection in 198 international matches since 2006 and celebrated the greatest success with winning the 2014 World Cup.
In his address, Steinmeier not only emphasized Löw's sporting merits.
“Today we are honoring a national coach whose team has reflected the diversity of our society.
The successes of his team have changed the self-image of our country, they have made different stories of origin of young Germans an integral part of our national narrative.
And above all, they showed how much we can achieve together as different people when we are there for one another, «said Steinmeier.
Farewell to the international match against Liechtenstein
With his work, Löw also positively changed the image of Germany in the world.
"Joachim Löw and his players stand for a cosmopolitan and tolerant Germany, for a Germany that is not grouchy, dogged and condescending, but friendly, confident and fair," said Steinmeier.
On Thursday next week, Löw, who has made himself publicly rare since his resignation, will bid farewell to the national team's World Cup qualifier against Liechtenstein in Wolfsburg together with long-time goalkeeping coach Andreas Köpke and his former assistant Thomas Schneider from the DFB.
mey / dpa