Germany World Cup-winning coach Joachim Loew remains committed to leading the side through to the European Championship in 2016, the 54-year-old said on Wednesday.

Loew was contracted to the German football federation (DFB) until July 2016, but said he had needed to take some time following his side's 1-0 World Cup final victory over Argentina 10 days ago.

In an interview on the DFB website he said he could think of nothing better than leading the side to the tournament in France, and was as motivated as he was on his first day on the job.

Loew took over the national team after the 2006 World Cup having previously been assistant to Juergen Klinsmann.

As well as Germany's fourth World Cup triumph, he also led the side to the final at Euro 2008 and the semi-finals of the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012.

Germany captain Philipp Lahm retired from international football last week.

(Reporting by Josh Reich, editing by Ed Osmond)