German team will be back for more, but will Loew?

DURBAN, South Africa (AP):

Germany's young players will be older, more experienced and quite possibly better by the time of the next World Cup. Whether coach Joachim Loew is there to guide them is unclear.

Loew has remained silent on his future after contract extension negotiations with the federation broke down and a decision is expected soon after the World Cup.

But Loew says the multicultural group he picked on flair and skill has a bright future no matter who is leading it. Germany reached the semi-finals for the third straight tournament and can finish third, just as it did four years ago at home.

"This team will remain together," Loew said after Wednesday's 1-0 semi-final loss to Spain. "This team has very good players and many possibilities. No matter who is in charge, it will stay together. The team's development is not at its end, it has just began.

"We wanted to achieve a lot and we are disappointed not to have gone through to the final. But I must give my players compliments how they played at this tournament. We gave everything. We gave our best."

Want strong performance

Loew's team will now play Uruguay in tomorrow's third-place match in Port Elizabeth and the coach said his team wanted to end the tournament with a strong performance.

It also could be Loew's last match in charge. The 50-year-old coach, who has the best won-lost ratio of all Germany coaches, fell out with the federation in February over several issues, including financial compensation and staffing decisions.

The federation president, Theo Zwanziger, has said he would like Loew to stay and the players also have backed him.

"We need a good coach and he's a very good coach," captain Philipp Lahm said. "But it's not our decision."

Lahm said the team was disappointed by the semi-final loss to Spain, the side that also beat Germany 1-0 in the 2008 European Championship final. That was Loew's first major tournament in charge.

"But we played a very good tournament here. We have a lot of quality and we'll work more to be able to play for the title again," Lahm said. "It's good that I have a few more years ahead of me. We have the chance to mix it up with the top teams for years to come."