BERLIN — Germany coach Joachim Loew said Wednesday that he never considered leaving his post after winning the World Cup title and insisted he would see out his contract which runs until Euro 2016. “I didn't think of stopping for one second,” said Loew, 54, in an interview published on the German Football Federation (DFB) website. Loew took over as German head coach in 2006 after two years as assistant and extended his contract until 2016 before the World Cup in Brazil. “I didn't extend my contract with the DFB until 2016 to prematurely break it,” said Loew, who had refused to answer questions about his future after guiding his side to a 1-0 defeat of Argentina in this month's World Cup final. “I simply kept to what we had agreed before the World Cup that we were going to calmly sit down and analyse the tournament as we have done after every tournament,” he explained. Loew said that he was already looking forward to leading Germany to Euro 2016 which will be played in France. “I can't imagine anything more beautiful than to continue working with this team, to lead them to the European championship in France, to continue to develop the group and each of the players,” he said. “I'm as motivated as the first day. We celebrated a huge success in Brazil, but there are other objectives that we want to achieve. The 2014 World Cup was a summit but it wasn't a conclusion.” Loew led Germany to its fourth World Cup title in Brazil and the first since reunification in 1990. One of his first tasks will be to find a new captain after defender Philipp Lahm's surprise international retirement, with Bayern Munich midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger favorite for the job. Rodriguez unveiled Colombia's World Cup revelation James Rodriguez was unveiled as Real Madrid's latest headline signing in front of tens of thousands of fans at the Santiago Bernabeu Tuesday. Rodriguez, the top scorer at the World Cup in Brazil, has moved to the European champion from Monaco on a six-season contract. Spanish media said Real paid about EUR80 million ($108m) for the 23-year-old playmaker, which if correct would make him the fifth most expensive player in history after Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Luis Suarez. “It's a lot of pressure to be here but I'm ready to take it on,” said Colombia's poster boy, looking relaxed and smiling and sporting Real's number 10 shirt — last worn by Mesut Ozil. — Agencies
