Loew under pressure ahead of German FA probe into Spain thrashing

Berlin (AFP) – The German football association (DFB) announced on Monday that its presidential board will meet next month to discuss the consequences of the national team’s humiliating defeat by Spain, increasing the pressure on coach Joachim Loew.

The four-time world champions were thrashed 6-0 in a Nations League match in Seville last week, their heaviest loss in 89 years.

The DFB board will meet on December 4, giving Loew time to “fundamentally review the national side’s current situation”.

“That (meeting) will include lessons learned from the loss against Spain, as well as the side’s overall development in the last two years,” the DFB said in a statement.

“This also gives the national head coach enough time and emotional distance to fundamentally review the national side’s current situation.

“In sporting terms, to analyse the causes of the heavy defeat in Sevilla, but also personally, to come to terms with the great disappointment. That’s part of the process.”

Loew has been in charge of the Germany team since taking over from Juergen Klinsmann following the 2006 World Cup, leading the nation to a fourth world title, and first since reunification, in 2014.

But the recent hammering by Spain capped a poor three-year spell, which included an embarrassing group-stage exit at the 2018 World Cup.

The 60-year-old Loew has made some controversial decisions since the debacle in Russia, none more so than the one to end the international careers of World Cup winners Thomas Mueller, Jerome Boateng and Mats Hummels.