A new U-21 coach was required after Germany were knocked out in the group stages of the recent European Championships in Israel, and Horst Hrubesch has been named as the man to lead Germany in the forthcoming qualifiers for the UEFA Euro 2015. Hrubesch was chosen by the Executive Committee of the German Football Association (DFB), after they had consulted with the sporting management of the German national team including head coach Joachim Low and in agreement with previous U-21 coach Rainer Adrion.
The decision to change coaches was the result of an analysis commissioned by DFB chairman Wolfgang Niersbach after the early exit from the tournament in Israel. This led to a meeting with Adrion last Monday, during which the latter made it clear that it would be better for the U-21s to be able to make a fresh start. Just before the tournament, Adrion had been given an extension to his contract through to 2014 by former DFB Director of Sport Robin Dutt, but this has been terminated by mutual consent.
"Over the past few years, Rainer Adrion has shown great commitment in his work with the DFB and always maintained a focus on preparing players for the senior team," said DFB general secretary Helmut Sandrock. "We certainly were not looking to find an easy scapegoat after our elimination from the Euros. What we wanted was to analyse the situation and evaluate matters together with a view to taking a fresh approach. The fact that Adrion made it clear during this process that he had no intention of getting in the way of a new team being built says everything about him."
Hrubesch is an experienced coach who has already been at the helm of the U-21 team. At Euro 2009, he led a side including Sami Khedira, Mesut Ozil, Manuel Neuer and Jerome Boateng to the title, a year after they had won the European U-19 Championship. Most recently he had been working as U-18 coach, and his many years of experience working in youth football will certainly serve him well as he looks to mould a new generation of German U-21 players.
"Looking after the new U-21 team is a very interesting task since we have some exciting targets ahead of us like the Euro 2015 in the Czech Republic and the 2016 Olympics in Rio," said Hrubesch. "This is why I accepted without hesitation when Helmut Sandrock asked me on Thursday."
In terms of finding a new director of sport, the DFB Executive Committee agreed to continue to define the required profile for the job internally before deciding on the right candidate. To this end, the DFB chairman has called for a summit meeting next week involving Niersbach, Sandrock and German Football League (DFL) president Dr Reinhard Rauball and CEO Christian Seifert to deal with certain public matters which have been the subject of much popular debate recently.
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A new U-21 coach was required after Germany were knocked out in the group stages of the recent European Championships in Israel, and Horst Hrubesch has been named as the man to lead Germany in the forthcoming qualifiers for the UEFA Euro 2015. Hrubesch was chosen by the Executive Committee of the German Football Association (DFB), after they had consulted with the sporting management of the German national team including head coach Joachim Low and in agreement with previous U-21 coach Rainer Adrion.
The decision to change coaches was the result of an analysis commissioned by DFB chairman Wolfgang Niersbach after the early exit from the tournament in Israel. This led to a meeting with Adrion last Monday, during which the latter made it clear that it would be better for the U-21s to be able to make a fresh start. Just before the tournament, Adrion had been given an extension to his contract through to 2014 by former DFB Director of Sport Robin Dutt, but this has been terminated by mutual consent.
"Over the past few years, Rainer Adrion has shown great commitment in his work with the DFB and always maintained a focus on preparing players for the senior team," said DFB general secretary Helmut Sandrock. "We certainly were not looking to find an easy scapegoat after our elimination from the Euros. What we wanted was to analyse the situation and evaluate matters together with a view to taking a fresh approach. The fact that Adrion made it clear during this process that he had no intention of getting in the way of a new team being built says everything about him."
Hrubesch is an experienced coach who has already been at the helm of the U-21 team. At Euro 2009, he led a side including Sami Khedira, Mesut Ozil, Manuel Neuer and Jerome Boateng to the title, a year after they had won the European U-19 Championship. Most recently he had been working as U-18 coach, and his many years of experience working in youth football will certainly serve him well as he looks to mould a new generation of German U-21 players.
"Looking after the new U-21 team is a very interesting task since we have some exciting targets ahead of us like the Euro 2015 in the Czech Republic and the 2016 Olympics in Rio," said Hrubesch. "This is why I accepted without hesitation when Helmut Sandrock asked me on Thursday."
In terms of finding a new director of sport, the DFB Executive Committee agreed to continue to define the required profile for the job internally before deciding on the right candidate. To this end, the DFB chairman has called for a summit meeting next week involving Niersbach, Sandrock and German Football League (DFL) president Dr Reinhard Rauball and CEO Christian Seifert to deal with certain public matters which have been the subject of much popular debate recently.
