BERLIN: Longtime captain Michael Ballack’s Germany career is over, the German football federation said Thursday, ending months of speculation about his future.
The 34-year-old midfielder has 98 caps but has not played for Germany in more than a year and missed seven months with an ankle injury, including last year’s World Cup in South Africa. The Germans came third in the World Cup and have opened a ten-point lead at the top of their Euro 2012 qualification group.
Coach Joachim Loew had left Ballack nominally in place as captain, but left him out of the Germany squad recently despite a strong end to the season.
On Thursday, however, the federation said Ballack won’t be part of the squad in future — though it would like him to play one last game as captain in a friendly against Brazil on August 10.
“The last few months have shown that many young players have stepped into the spotlight and have good prospects,” Loew said in a statement.
“In our talks, most recently in our meeting in March 2011 and in numerous phone calls, I had the impression that Michael definitely understands our point of view.
“So in the interest of everyone, an honest and clear decision is now appropriate.
“With the Euro 2012 season about to start the time has come for me to make a clear statement.”
The coach lauded Ballack’s achievements over nearly a decade with the national team, saying that “he has an enormous share in the team’s great successes since the 2002 World Cup” — where Ballack helped power Germany to the final.
A gifted leader on the pitch who failed, however, to win a major trophy with Germany, the midfielder’s lowest career moments was when he steered Germany into the 2002 World Cup final but missed the 2-0 loss to Brazil in the final because of a yellow card in the semifinal, when he prevented a threatening South Korean counterattack with a deliberate foul.
Four years later at home, Germany finished third.
Ballack also lost with Germany in the 2008 Euro final to Spain.
His last game for Germany was in March 2010, a 1-0 loss to Argentina in a friendly.
Ballack’s club career included stints with Kaiserslautern, Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich, from 2002 and 2006, before he moved to Chelsea for a four-year stint at Stamford Bridge.
When his contract at Chelsea was not extended, Ballack returned to Leverkusen and struggled to make the starting lineup after coming back from the ankle injury. But he finished the season strongly.
The tackle that effectively ended his Germany career came in the FA Cup final and was committed by former Bundesliga player Kevin-Prince Boateng.
“Michael Ballack was for a decade a very important leading player in the national side and contributed enormously to the great successes of the team after the 2002 World Cup,” added Loew, coach since 2006.
“He shaped an era and as captain always put himself at the service of the team, as I was able to witness at close quarters at the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2008.”
Loew’s young team has all but qualified already for next year’s European Championship in Poland and Ukraine. They have seven wins in seven qualifying matches.
The 34-year-old midfielder has 98 caps but has not played for Germany in more than a year and missed seven months with an ankle injury, including last year’s World Cup in South Africa. The Germans came third in the World Cup and have opened a ten-point lead at the top of their Euro 2012 qualification group.
Coach Joachim Loew had left Ballack nominally in place as captain, but left him out of the Germany squad recently despite a strong end to the season.
On Thursday, however, the federation said Ballack won’t be part of the squad in future — though it would like him to play one last game as captain in a friendly against Brazil on August 10.
“The last few months have shown that many young players have stepped into the spotlight and have good prospects,” Loew said in a statement.
“In our talks, most recently in our meeting in March 2011 and in numerous phone calls, I had the impression that Michael definitely understands our point of view.
“So in the interest of everyone, an honest and clear decision is now appropriate.
“With the Euro 2012 season about to start the time has come for me to make a clear statement.”
The coach lauded Ballack’s achievements over nearly a decade with the national team, saying that “he has an enormous share in the team’s great successes since the 2002 World Cup” — where Ballack helped power Germany to the final.
A gifted leader on the pitch who failed, however, to win a major trophy with Germany, the midfielder’s lowest career moments was when he steered Germany into the 2002 World Cup final but missed the 2-0 loss to Brazil in the final because of a yellow card in the semifinal, when he prevented a threatening South Korean counterattack with a deliberate foul.
Four years later at home, Germany finished third.
Ballack also lost with Germany in the 2008 Euro final to Spain.
His last game for Germany was in March 2010, a 1-0 loss to Argentina in a friendly.
Ballack’s club career included stints with Kaiserslautern, Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich, from 2002 and 2006, before he moved to Chelsea for a four-year stint at Stamford Bridge.
When his contract at Chelsea was not extended, Ballack returned to Leverkusen and struggled to make the starting lineup after coming back from the ankle injury. But he finished the season strongly.
The tackle that effectively ended his Germany career came in the FA Cup final and was committed by former Bundesliga player Kevin-Prince Boateng.
“Michael Ballack was for a decade a very important leading player in the national side and contributed enormously to the great successes of the team after the 2002 World Cup,” added Loew, coach since 2006.
“He shaped an era and as captain always put himself at the service of the team, as I was able to witness at close quarters at the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2008.”
Loew’s young team has all but qualified already for next year’s European Championship in Poland and Ukraine. They have seven wins in seven qualifying matches.
No comments:
Post a Comment