Uncertain future after darkest hour: Low

Four years ago, Germany head coach Joachim Low was full of enthusiasm and energy when talking about his big dream of trying to retain the World Cup that his side had lifted in Brazil in 2014.

Yet after Germany on Wednesday failed to progress from the group stage of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Low has to face his darkest hours as a coach and will soon have to decide his future, despite having extended his contract until 2022 shortly before this year's tournament.

While German federation president Reinhard Grindel and team manager Oliver Bierhoff assumed that Low would continue and carry out the necessary upheaval, the 58-year-old was full of doubt about his future. After his team lost its final group match against South Korea 2-0, Low said he needed time to come to a decision after 12 years as Germany coach.

"Right now it is too early to talk about the future. It will take some time to get over that disaster. We have all lost, but it is my responsibility. German football, in general, has lost a lot. We have destroyed what we had created over the last years," Low commented after the game.

The coach added that his team deserved to be eliminated, also alluding to a certain amount of arrogance and complacency ahead of the curtain-raiser against Mexico.

Low lamented that it was no consolation to share the destiny of other recent world champions to have struggled in their title defense. Four of the last five World Cup winners were eliminated at the group stage of the following tournament.

For his part, Grindel noted that the federation was convinced that Low remains the best choice to lead the German team into the future, adding that the coach had led his team to at least the semifinals of the last five major tournaments.

Bierhoff said he was sure Low would be able to face the challenge, but added that things have to be analyzed and discussed. "It will take some time to get over this, but we have to face that difficult situation," the 1996 European champion noted.

Former German international goalkeeper Oliver Kahn said Low was not able to combine the players from the victorious 2014 squad with the new talents of German football.

Kahn said the question would have to be answered as to what went wrong after 2016, when it became apparent there was not enough development in the team. The former Bayern keeper said it seemed as if the "German shirt was too heavy a burden" as expectations seemed too much for several players.

Right after Wednesday's elimination, key players such as Mats Hummels and Sami Khedira said that negative developments had been visible for several months, but that both team and coach were not able to solve the problems. Shortly before the World Cup, Toni Kroos warned his side "we are not at a top level and we are not as good as we think."

Low now stands accused of ignoring the signs of complacency among many of his 2014 heroes. He also suffered from a comparatively lean season from Bayern Munich, several of whose players feature in the German national side. Although the Bavarians won the Bundesliga at a canter, they failed to reach the Champions League final and lost in the German Cup final.

Kahn said there had been warning signs as Germany had failed to perform well against other top nations over the last two years, with players like Khedira, Hummels, Kroos, Thomas Muller, Jerome Boateng and Mesut Ozil failing to provide the team with the required shape.

If Low should decide to continue, he will have to ring the changes. It is expected that several key players will retire from international football to allow for a restart with younger talents.

In 2017, a young German team won that year's Confederation Cup. Low will have to build the new German team around youngsters such as Julian Brandt, Timo Werner, Leon Goretzka, Leroy Sane and Niklas Sule.

But first of all, he will have to decide if he has enough energy to face what will be the biggest challenge of his career.