Loew backs Sander

Patrik Sander has received strong support since his sacking as manager of Energie Cottbus on Sunday, the latest expression of concern coming from national coach Joachim Loew.
The Energie Cottbus directors have already come under fire from a stream of Sander's fellow coaches including Bayern Munich's Ottmar Hitzfeld and Armin Veh of Stuttgart.
And on Tuesday Loew became the latest to speak out against the treatment meted out to Sander who has been widely applauded for taking Cottbus to the second division title in 2006 and on a shoestring budget finishing 13th in the Bundesliga last season.
"In very difficult conditions Patrik Sander has achieved something extraordinary at Cottbus," Loew told Bild newspaper.
"He is someone who is greatly appreciated by his peers as much from a professional point of view as on a personal level."
Sander, 46, was given his marching orders on Sunday 24 hours after the club founded by coalminers in the former East Germany in the 1960s suffered a 2-1 loss to Vfl Wolfsburg.
That left them winless after six matches and propping up the Bundesliga.
Their cause has not been helped this season by the departure of two of their top players - Romanian duo Munteanu and Radu - to Wolfsburg.
Explaining the decision to sack Sander Cottbus' general manager Steffen Heidrich told a press conference on Sunday: "The sporting situation is very negative."
Two names in the frame to succeed Sander are Klaus Augenthaler and Jurgen Kohler.