Loew pleads for time to decide future

Germany's national soccer team coach Joachim Loew (L) and Germany's President Christian Wulff address a news conference at the Velmore hotel in Pretoria July 11, 2010. [Agencies]

Germany coach Joachim Loew insisted on Saturday that there have been no talks over a new contract which would keep him at the helm of the team he led to third place at the World Cup.

"There have been no negotiations for the moment. I need calm and time to go over things that have happened in my head," said Loew, after Germany defeated Uruguay 3-2 in the third-place playoff.

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"I want to have two or three days to get an idea of what can happen and I want to talk to my team manager, Oliver Bierhoff."

Loew has won 38 out of 55 matches since he succeeded Jurgen Klinsmann after the 2006 World Cup, taking the national team to the runnersup spot at Euro 2008. The 50-year-old's four-year deal with the German Football Federation (DFB) officially expired on June 30.

Loew must now decide whether or not he wants to lead Germany into Euro 2012, to be held in Poland and the Ukraine, with the first qualifier against Belgium in Brussels on Sept 3.

Talks with the DFB over a new deal for the coach and his entire backroom staff broke down in February.

Agence France-Presse