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Michael Ballack (born September 26, 1976 in Görlitz, Saxony) is a German
football player. He is the current captain of the German national team, and plays
club football for Chelsea F.C. in the English FA Premier League.
He made his name as a classic box-to-box midfielder with Bayer Leverkusen, where he
operated as the central midfielder, taking on both defensive and attacking
responsibilities. Later in his career, at FC Bayern Munich, under the guidance of
Ottmar Hitzfeld and Felix Magath, Ballack played in a deeper role, where he went
forward less often and instead concentrated on protecting the back four and
distributing the ball. However, he remained a box-to-box midfielder for the German
national team.
He is capable with both his left and right foot, as well as in the air. These
attributes earned him the German player of the year award on three occasions (2002,
2003, 2005). He is one of Germany's leading sports icons of recent times. Pelé
named Ballack among the world's greatest 125 living footballers in FIFA's 2004 FIFA
100
Then, in 2004, the national team coach Jürgen Klinsmann elected Ballack as captain.
Following Germany's third place finish in the World Cup in summer 2006, the new
Germany head coach Joachim Löw chose to keep Ballack as his national team captain.
Ballack has worn the number 13 shirt for every club that he has played for, as well
as the German national team.
Ballack and his partner Simone Lambe have three children: Louis (born August 16,
2001), Emilio (September 19, 2002), and Jordi (born March 17, 2005).
 Career
Chemnitzer
FC
His parents sent him to train with the side when he was seven
years old. He later moved on to FC Karl-Marx-Stadt (renamed Chemnitzer FC in
1990). His father had played second-division football himself in Germany.
Unusual for his early age was Ballack's ability to use both feet with equal
authority.
In 1995, Ballack earned his first professional contract, thanks to his impressive
performances in the role of central midfielder. He was dubbed the "Little Kaiser",
in reference to Franz Beckenbauer, who was nicknamed "The Kaiser". His professional
debut came on 4 August 1995, on the first day of the new Second Bundesliga season.
Chemnitz lost the game 2-1, against VfB Leipzig.
At the end of the season, during which Ballack made fifteen appearances, Chemnitz
were relegated to the multi-tiered, regional third division. For Ballack himself,
however, that season held one great success: on 26 March 1996, he made his debut
for Germany's Under-21 side.
The following season, Ballack became a regular first-team player and almost helped
Chemnitz to bounce straight back. He did not miss a game and scored ten goals for
the "Sky Blues". It was not enough for Chemnitz to go up, but Ballack managed to
win his own, personal promotion: in the summer of 1997, decorated German coach Otto
Rehhagel of just-promoted 1. FC Kaiserslautern, signed Ballack at their return to
top flight football.
FC
Kaiserslautern
It was during the seventh game of the 1997-98 season, away to Karlsruher SC, that
Rehhagel decided to throw young Ballack into the Bundesliga for the first time, if
only for the final five minutes of the encounter. On 28 March 1998, Ballack found
himself in the starting line-up for the first time - the opponents were Bayer
Leverkusen, and the manager charged him with the crucial task of marking playmaker
Emerson, his future team-mate, out of the game.
Ballack made sixteen appearances for his new team during the season and thus played
a part in Kaiserslautern's success - the club became the first-ever newly promoted
team to lift the league title. In the following season, Ballack became both a
regular (he made 30 appearances, scoring four goals) and one of the side's leading
players. Kaiserslautern reached the quarter finals of the Champions League, but
were knocked out by Bayern Munich.
On 1 July 1999, some two months after his first full international, Ballack moved
to Bayer Leverkusen at the age of 22, for a transfer fee of 8 m Deutsche Mark (€4.8
m).
Bayer
Leverkusen
It was at Bayer Leverkusen that Ballack made his big breakthrough. Coaches
Christoph Daum and Klaus Toppmöller granted him the whole of the pitch as his
sovereign territory. With Bayer, Ballack was the man who pulled the strings in the
centre of the pitch, making late runs into the opponents' penalty box, and also the
reliable finisher upfront. Over his three seasons at the BayArena, he scored 27
goals in the league, and a further nine goals in Europe.
In 2000, Bayer needed only a draw against minnows SpVgg Unterhaching to lift the
league title, but an unexpected own goal by Ballack sunk the club. Still, the
disappointment of costing his team the title did not stymie his development into
one of Europe's best midfielders.
He left Leverkusen after a memorable, if ultimately heartbreaking, 2001-02 season
when they again came second in the Bundesliga to Borussia Dortmund and were beaten
in both the UEFA Champions League final by Real Madrid and the German Cup final by
Schalke 04. This became known as the "Treble Nightmare".
Ballack and Leverkusen teammates Bernd Schneider, Carsten Ramelow, and Oliver
Neuville were even beaten finalists with Germany in the 2002 World Cup, although
Ballack was suspended for the Final itself. Ballack finished with 17 league goals,
and his remarkable season led to him being voted into the uefa.com users' Team of
2002 as well being named Germany's Footballer of the Year.
Bayern
Munich
In spite of Spanish giants Real Madrid's interest, Ballack decided to sign with
Bayern Munich in a €12.9 m deal in 2002. There, deployed in a more defensive role,
Ballack still managed ten goals as Bayern stormed to the Bundesliga title. He also
scored twice in the 3-1 German Cup final win against Kaiserslautern.
After a trying second season with the Bavarian giants, Ballack enjoyed more success
in the 2004/05 season as Bayern Munich completed another double. New coach Felix
Magath stated he was the only automatic starter in their midfield.] In four seasons
at Bayern, Ballack won three Bundesliga and German Cup doubles and scored 47 goals
in 135 matches. Between 1998 and 2005, Ballack notched up 61 goals in his domestic
league.
However, Ballack's critics noted his frequent choking in important UEFA Champions
League matches, as well as continually looking for a big international move. This
resulted in open public criticism from club general manager Uli Hoeness,
communications director Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and club president Franz Beckenbauer
(all former Bayern players). Beckenbauer later went as far as to accuse Ballack of
"saving his strength" for prospective employers Chelsea after Ballack turned in an
average performance in the 2006 DFB-Pokal final against Eintracht Frankfurt.
During his few final games for Bayern, supporters at the stadium jeered at Ballack,
angering him because he felt that he honoured his contract and conducted himself
professionally on and off the pitch as a Bayern player. Shortly after his transfer
to Chelsea, Ballack proclaimed sarcastically that the acrimony surrounding his
departure made him glad as it proved how important he had been to Bayern. Ballack
also rubbished accusations that money was his primary motivation in moving to
Chelsea, stating that he earned well at Bayern. Ballack stated that he joined
Chelsea to fulfill his dream of playing abroad. He also stated that Chelsea's
fellow Premiership club Manchester United had made an approach, but he decided that
Chelsea were a more attractive team to join. It could be said that United were in
more need of such a player after the departure of Roy Keane, but the appeal of
living in London probably made the decision for Ballack.
Chelsea
F.C.
Ballack agreed to join Chelsea on a Bosman transfer on 15 May 2006. During his last
season as a Bayern player there were rumours of interest from Manchester United,
Real Madrid and A.C. Milan, but Ballack instead chose to go to Stamford Bridge .
Shortly after arriving at Chelsea, Ballack stated that he hoped to end his career
at Stamford Bridge.
Ballack's Chelsea debut came on Monday 31 July 2006, during a practice match at
UCLA's intramural football pitch. Chelsea presented him to the media the following
day where the club also gave him his favoured number 13 shirt, worn throughout his
career. On 27 August 2006, Ballack earned his Premiership debut for Chelsea against
Blackburn Rovers F.C., and his UEFA Champions League debut for Chelsea against
Werder Bremen.
Ballack scored his first goal for Chelsea on 12 September 2006 in the Champions
League group stage match against SV Werder Bremen. He received his first straight
red card of his career in Chelsea's 1-0 win over Liverpool F.C. September 17 2006,
after being judged to have stamped on Mohamed Sissoko's leg. Ballack scored his
first Premiership goal on 21 October 2006 against Portsmouth F.C. in a home game at
Stamford Bridge with a header. He and Andriy Shevchenko scored. His first FA Cup
goal came in the 109th minute in a match against Blackburn Rovers on 15 April 2007.
This goal resulted in Chelsea progressing into the FA Cup final. He scored 8 goals
in all competitions for the club in the 2006-07 season.
On 28 April 2007, Chelsea released a statement on their official website, informing
fans that Ballack had undergone ankle surgery in Munich. As a result of the
surgery, Ballack did not play in the FA Cup Final against Manchester United, which
Chelsea won 1-0 through Didier Drogba's extra time goal. This was Ballack's second
trophy this season, his first being the Carling Cup.
In August 4, Spanish media reported that Real Madrid was close to signing Ballack
and/or his Chelsea teammate Arjen Robben. Madrid coach Bernd Schuster told Spanish
radio, "Hopefully, we'll be able to announce the signing of one or two big players
soon." Schuster is said to have demanded Ballack, while Madrid's president Ramon
Calderon, is known to favor Robben.
On August 7, Ballack released a statement on Chelsea FC's official website,
saying:
“I am totally committed to Chelsea. I came here to win trophies and be successful
in English football, I want to assure the Chelsea fans of that. I am very happy in
London professionally and for my family. The speculation about me leaving is not
true. I have no interest in leaving Chelsea and I have had no contact with Real
Madrid whatsoever. I am frustrated by my injury at the moment but I am working hard
to be fit and hope to be back very soon to join my team-mates.”
International
career
On March 26, 1996, Ballack debuted for the national U21
team's encounter with Denmark, shortly after signing for Chemnitz. In all, he
played 19 matches for this side, scoring four goals. Then, following his move
to Kaiserslautern, national coach Berti Vogts called him up to the senior
team.
Ballack's first appearance, however, did not come until April 28, 1999, by which
time the man in charge was Erich Ribbeck. Germany was playing Scotland on that day,
and Ballack came on after sixty minutes to replace Dietmar Hamann.
Ballack only played 63 minutes at Euro 2000. In 2002 FIFA World Cup he scored in
matches against USA and South Korea during the knock-out rounds as Germany reached
the final, from which he was suspended.
Following Euro 2004, Jürgen Klinsmann replaced Rudi Völler at the helm of the
national team and made Ballack the side's captain. Ballack is one of five national
team captains in the current Chelsea team, along with Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast
captain), Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine captain), John Terry (England captain) and
Claudio Pizarro (Peru captain). In the 2006 FIFA World Cup he was unable to start
in Germany's first game against Costa Rica due to a calf strain, but appeared in
the following five matches. Germany were eliminated in the semi-finals, but they
managed to clinch 3rd place. He was named Man of the Match in the games against
Ecuador and Argentina, and was included in FIFA's World Cup All Star Team.
Source : Some of the information on this page came
from a Wikipedia article and is licensed under the GNU Documentation
License. ©2008 www.geneticmatrix.com.
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Michael Ballack -
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