Loew named as Klinsmann assistant
 |  Joachim Loew will be assisting new Germany coach Juergen Klinsmann |
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BERLIN, Germany -- Joachim Loew has been named as assistant to new Germany coach Juergen Klinsmann, the German Football Association (DFB) have said.
An ex-Stuttgart player and coach, Loew, 44, has agreed a contract until after the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany.
Former Germany captain Klinsmann, who turned 40 on Friday, officially took charge as national team coach on Thursday. He replaces Rudi Voeller, who stepped down last month after the team failed to survive the group stage at Euro 2004.
Klinsmann will also receive help from fellow former Germany striker Oliver Bierhoff, 36, who was appointed team manager and will be largely responsible for dealing with sponsors and media.
Loew's appointment completes the new leadership and ends weeks of searching that has damaged the DFB's image.
Klinsmann, who was considered for the top job only after Ottmar Hitzfeld and Otto Rehhagel turned it down, has a training licence but no coaching experience.
The DFB wanted Holger Osieck, head coach Franz Beckenbauer's deputy during West Germany's 1990 World Cup-winning campaign, to assist Klinsmann.
That plan was shattered when Klinsmann and Osieck decided after talks on Tuesday they could not work together because they did not share the same views on how the team should be run.
An experienced trainer, Loew has coached Stuttgart and several other clubs, including Istanbul side Fenerbahce. He joins the national side after a spell at Austria Vienna.
"In Joachim Loew we have found a perfect and competent candidate who fulfils all my requirements," said Klinsmann. "I've known him for years and I have a lot of respect for what he has achieved as coach."
Klinsmann has called for new structures and methods, saying both the team and the DFB need an entirely different approach.
The former Bayern Munich and Tottenham Hotspur striker said after embarking on a mission to lift from crisis the team he once graced, that he believed Germany had the potential to lift the World Cup on home soil in two years.
