Ballack and the Summer Fairy Tale

In years to come, 2006 will be remembered by German football fans with a bittersweet fondness.

Film director Soenke Wortmann followed the national team in the build up to, and through the World Cup of that year. Wortmann, whose movie “The Miracle of Berne” captured the DFB’s first World Cup in Switzerland in 1954, gave millions of Germans an insider’s view of a great tournament. His film “A Summer Fairy Tale” stretching from the FIFA Confederations Cup 2005 to the end of the World Cup finals, made movie stars of national coach Juergen Klinsmann, his assistant Joachim Loew, team captain Michael Ballack and the two younger players Lukas Podolski and Bastian Schweinsteiger. As the captain, Saxon Ballack should have held up the FIFA World Cup trophy in July 2006 but, just as in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, he was denied in the end.

“Balle”, as he is often called, was born at Goerlitz in the far east of Germany on the border with Poland in September 1976. In the spring of 1977, his parents, Karin and Stephan Ballack, moved to Karl Marx Stadt (Chemnitz). Ballack started school there in 1983 and shortly afterwards he joined the Motor Fritz Heckert club. Under Steffen Hänisch, his first coach, Ballack learnt to tackle, dribble and shoot. It was clear that he was a natural. As Hanisch said, Ballack was perfect on the ball, strong with both feet and deadly accurate. It soon became clear that he needed a bigger club if he was to realise his talent. That club was FC Karl Marx Stadt in the GDR’s first division. Still, it was hard for a seventh grade boy to fit in training sessions every day besides his normal classes.

Laying the foundations

It all took its toll on the young star’s body, as physiotherapist Burkhardt Wind recalls. “I remember that he had a growth spurt as a 17-year-old and he suffered from the knee condition Morbus Schlatter as a result. He was in such pain.” Ballack was forced out of the game for a year. However, he returned better than ever. Margitta Teucher led Ballack through his senior school exams. She remembers the youngster’s determination. “Don’t worry about me. I shall become a professional football player,” he said.

Reinhard Haefner, a member of the GDR’s gold medal winning team at the 1976 Olympics, handed the teenager his professional debut with Chemnitzer FC on August 4, 1995. Two years later Ballack moved to the Betzenberg Stadium, where, under coach Otto Rehhagel, he immediately won the league title with Kaiserslautern’s “Red Devils”. It was here, too, that Ballack met Simone, the mother of his three children, whom he married in 2008

Ballack also reached for the title with coach Christoph Daum at Bayer Leverkusen in May 2000. However, a last day defeat in Unterhaching, where he also scored an own goal, turned dreams of triumph to nightmare. The 2001-02 season was even worse. Leverkusen lost their last three matches to hand Dortmund the title, lost the UEFA Champions League final against Real Madrid and went down 4-2 in the final of the DFB Cup. And Ballack’s losing streak was not over. The German national team lost the FIFA World Cup final 2-0 to Brazil in Yokohama. Many believe that it wouldn’t have happened with Ballack. The undisputed star, he had led the team into the final with winning goals against the USA (1-0) and South Korea (1-0). But a second yellow card in the semi-final meant that he missed the final. As team manager Rudi Voeller said, Ballack sacrificed himself for the team. Ballack signed for Bayern Munich and immediately captured trophies under coaches Ottmar Hitzfeld and Felix Magath. Then, in 2006, the call came from the home of football and Ballack moved to London to sign for Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea.

Unpredictable weapon or genius without the winning gene

His fellow professionals have firm opinions about Ballack. Christian Ziege said early on: “He doesn’t take any advice, he is already World Cup champion.” Franz Beckenbauer is also a fan of Ballack and said: “All the others can be exchanged.” Oliver Bierhoff, first a team-mate, then manager of the national team, said: “He is a leader. He has the broad picture in his head, he must lead the team.” Avram Grant, one of his coaches with Chelsea, added: “Ballack is an unpredictable weapon.” However, Guenter Netzer wondered if his background has shaped the player. “Ballack grew up in East Germany, where the collective counted. And that’s what blocked the road for geniuses.”

Ballack is clear in his own mind about what he brings to the game. “I find space. I stand in midfield, pass, push into the box. Is that modern? Modern is winning.” But is Michael Ballack a winner? It is a question that is often asked. He is undoubtedly one of the best players in the world. Two-footed and good with his head, there are few who can match the timing of his runs from midfield. But he is injury prone and since the 2002 FIFA World Cup he has often been seen as the tragic hero. He has even been called the “all-time runner-up”. This is certainly unfair as he has won four national championships and three DFB Cup titles. However, his record shows more second places than victories. That said, most footballers would give anything for those second places: World Cup runner-up in 2002, European Championship silver medallist in 2008, Champions League finalist with Leverkusen in 2002 and with Chelsea in 2008, runner-up in national championships five times and a finalist in the DFB Cup once more. To some it seemed only natural that Juergen Klinsmann should appoint Ballack captain of the national team in 2004 instead of Oliver Kahn.

A dream drowned by tears

A calf-injury forced Ballack to miss the opening match of the 2006 FIFA World Cup against Costa Rica. But it was rumoured that Klinsmann preferred to rest his star, who was keen to play. The tournament started for Ballack with the second group match against Poland; and then in the last first-round game against Ecuador he laid on a goal for Miroslav Klose. In the 2-0 second-round win over Sweden he had seven shots on goal. The victory over Argentina in the penalty shoot-out followed, during which Ballack again passed to Klose who scored the equaliser for the intermediate 1-1 score. But the 2-0 defeat by Italy in the semi-final, which was snatched in the last two minutes of extra time, was one of the most bitter moment in an international career that had started in 1999. As the FIFA World Cup dream died, tears coursed down Ballack’s cheeks. He was again forced to watch the third-place play-off match against Portugal that Germany won 3-1. It was a party but it wasn’t the longed for title. The Summer Fairy Tale ended with a great celebration in Berlin a few hours before the final between Italy and France.

In the following two years Ballack again narrowly missed out the big trophies. His Chelsea team lost the English Premier League title to Manchester United in 2007 and 2008, then, in the rain of Moscow, they also lost the Champions League final to their northern rivals. Ballack came to the 2008 UEFA European Championship™ finals with this mental burden – and again finished a runner-up. And again a rather unwelcome celebration was held in Berlin. Some critics think that Ballack does not have the “winning gene”. Ballack himself refuses to believe that and has quarrelled with team manager Oliver Bierhoff, and later, shortly after his 32^nd birthday, with national coach Joachim Loew. The former pupil of the GDR still has great goals: The 2010 FIFA World Cup™ is once again in his sights. And who knows, perhaps he will even play again at the UEFA European Championship™ finals in the Ukraine and Poland at the grand old age of 35.