Germany’s Confederations Cup star: Michael Ballack
|
Hardly anybody has any doubts that Michael Ballack is Germany’s best footballer. In Reiner Calmund’s opinion, the former general manager of Ballack’s old club Bayer Leverkusen, the midfielder’s elegance is reminiscent of Franz Beceknbauer. “The little Kaiser” is how Calmund described the man from Saxony when he was transferred from 1 FC Kaiserslautern to the club on the Rhine in 1998. Born in Görlitz close to the Polish border on 26 September 1976, Ballack has in the meantime taken on the captaincy both at Bayern Munich and in the German national team. |
|
|
After the World Cup in Japan and Korea he moved from Leverkusen to Bayern Munich for 6.3 million Euro in July 2002. At Bayer 04 he had to be content with runners-up medals but in Munich the midfielder bagged, as he did at the start of his professional career in Kaiserslautern, the German league championship and cup. The next big target is a good performance with the German national team at the FIFA Confederations Cup 2005. “We want to at least reach the semi-final,” said Ballack. It is however only a dummy run for the coming year. At the FIFA World Cup 2006TM, the playmaker would like to make up for what he missed out on at the 2002 finals. “To win the World Cup is a dream,” said the captain. Ballack was forced to sit out the final in Yokohama against Brazil (0-2) on 30 June 2002 as he was shown a yellow card in the semi-final against Korea. It was hard for him but it was almost even harder on the team. He scored both goals in the two 1-0 wins against USA in the quarter-final and Korea in the semi-final. Many German fans maintain that had Ballack played a win against the Brazilians might well have been possible… |
|
Ballack has moved on to become a central figure in the German national team alongside Oliver Kahn. National coach Jürgen Klinsmann even named him captain of the World Cup runners-up in summer 2004. Ballack is the thinker, conductor and goal-scorer all in one person. Some experts consider him to be the only world-class German field player. Franz Beckenbauer is not the only person who feels Ballack is international football’s most dangerous midfielder in front of goal. The Bayern Munich player is particularly dangerous with headers. Former national coach Rudi Völler pinned his faith in the ex-Leverkusen player for four years. At the 2004 European Championships, Ballack had to play as a “disguised centre forward” due to the chronic lack of strikers. Whereby Ballack is at his best when coming from the defensive midfield as he can also hit long passes from the position. People dispute however what his ideal role might be. Bayern’s coach Felix Magath used him in a number of positions during their 2004/5 championship winning season. The term “model professional” appears to have be coined especially for Michael Ballack. Here you can find more information about the team from Germany... Here you can find more information about the trainer of the team from Germany... |