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{{Football player infobox| playername= Michael Ballack
{{Football player infobox| playername= Michael Balslack
| image = <!-- DO NOT replace this image with a fair use image, see Wikipedia:Fair use-->[[Image:Michael Ballac 2005.JPG|200px]]
| image = <!-- DO NOT replace this image with a fair use image, see Wikipedia:Fair use-->[[Image:Michael Ballac 2005.JPG|200px]]
| fullname = Michael Ballack
| fullname = Michael Ballsack
| height = {{height|meter=1.89}}<ref name="Michael Ballack Official profile">{{cite web|url=http://www.michael-ballack.com/?201A1A2|title=Michael Ballack Official profile|publisher=www.michael-ballack.com|date=2009-01-16|accessdate=2009-01-16}}</ref> <!-- Please do not edit war. Discuss changes on the article's talk page. -->
| height = {{height|meter=1.89}}<ref name="Michael Ballack Official profile">{{cite web|url=http://www.michael-ballack.com/?201A1A2|title=Michael Ballack Official profile|publisher=www.michael-ballack.com|date=2009-01-16|accessdate=2009-01-16}}</ref> <!-- Please do not edit war. Discuss changes on the article's talk page. -->
| dateofbirth = {{birth date and age|1976|9|26|df=y}}
| dateofbirth = {{birth date and age|1976|9|26|df=y}}
| cityofbirth = [[Görlitz]]
| cityofbirth = [[Görlitz]]
| countryofbirth = [[East Germany]]
| countryofbirth = [[Fagland]]
| currentclub = [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]]
| currentclub = [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]]
| clubnumber = 13
| clubnumber = 88
| position = [[Midfielder]]
| position = [[doggystyle]]
| youthyears = 1983&ndash;1995
| youthyears = 1983&ndash;1995
| youthclubs = [[Chemnitzer FC]]
| youthclubs = [[Chemnitzer FC]]
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| ntupdate = 21:41, 11 February 2009 (UTC)
| ntupdate = 21:41, 11 February 2009 (UTC)
}}
}}
'''Michael Ballack''' (born 26 September 1976 in [[Görlitz]], [[Saxony]]) is a [[Germany|German]] [[association football|footballer]]. A [[midfielder]], he is the current captain of the [[Germany national football team|German national team]], and plays club football for [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]] in the [[Premier League|English Premier League]]. In all the teams he has played in, he has always possessed the number 13 shirt.
'''Michael Ballsack''' (born 26 September 1976 in [[Görlitz]], [[Saxony]]) is a [[Germany|German]] [[association football|footballer]]. A [[cocksucker]], he is the current captain of the [[Germany national cocksucking team|German national team]], and plays club football for [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]] in the [[Premier League|English Premier League]]. In all the teams he has played in, he has always possessed the number 13 shirt.


==Club career==
==Club career==

Revision as of 01:24, 19 February 2009

Michael Ballack
Personal information
Full name Michael Ballsack
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2+1⁄2 in)[1]
Position(s) doggystyle
Team information
Current team
 Chelsea
Number 88
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 21:41, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

Michael Ballsack (born 26 September 1976 in Görlitz, Saxony) is a German footballer. A cocksucker, he is the current captain of the German national team, and plays club football for Chelsea in the English Premier League. In all the teams he has played in, he has always possessed the number 13 shirt.

Club career

Chemnitz

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 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 2. 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. On 26 March 1996 Ballack made his debut for Germany's Under-21 side.

The following season, Ballack became a regular first-team player as Chemnitz missed out on an immediate return to the Bundesliga. He did not miss a game and scored ten goals for the "Sky Blues". It was not enough for Chemnitz to go up, but in the summer of 1997 coach Otto Rehhagel of just-promoted 1. FC Kaiserslautern signed Ballack at their return to top flight football.

Kaiserslautern

It was during the seventh game of the 1997–98 season, away to Karlsruher SC, that Rehhagel decided to throw Ballack into the Bundesliga for the first time, if only for the final five minutes of the encounter. On 28 March 1998, Ballack made his first-team debut against Bayer Leverkusen.

Ballack made sixteen appearances for his new team during the season as 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, Ballack moved to Bayer Leverkusen at the age of 22, for a transfer fee of €4.1 million.

Bayer Leverkusen

It was at Bayer Leverkusen that Ballack made his breakthrough. Coaches Christoph Daum and Klaus Toppmöller granted him an attacking role in the midfield. Ballack was instrumental to the success of Leverkusen, scoring 27 goals in the league and 9 in Europe over the course of his three seasons at the BayArena.

In 2000, Bayer Leverkusen needed only a draw against minnows Unterhaching to win the title, but an own goal by Ballack helped send the team to a crushing (0-2) defeat, while Bayern Munich clinched the title with a (3-1) victory over Werder Bremen. 2002 was a season of disappointment for Bayer Leverkusen. In the German Bundesliga, the team surrendered a five point lead at the top of the table over the last three games of the season to finish second behind Borussia Dortmund, lost the Champions League final 2-1 to Real Madrid, and lost the German Cup final 4-2 to Schalke 04. These three runner-up finishes were dubbed 'Treble Horror'.

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 performance over the season led to him being voted into the uefa.com users' Team of 2002 as well being named German Footballer of the Year.

Bayern Munich

Ballack playing for Bayern Munich

In spite of Real Madrid's interest, Ballack decided to sign with Bayern Munich in a €12.9 million deal in 2002 after his impressive performances in the World Cup. Bayern won the Bundesliga in his first season with 75 points, they also won the German Cup. In his second season however, Bayern lost their Bundesliga crown to Werder Bremen along with the cup.

In his third season with the Bavarians, Ballack enjoyed 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.[2] In four seasons at Bayern, Ballack won three Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal 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 Champions League matches. 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 after Ballack turned in an average performance in the 2006 DFB Cup final against Eintracht Frankfurt.[3]

Chelsea

Ballack playing for Chelsea.

Ballack agreed to join Chelsea on a free transfer on 15 May 2006.[4] During his last season as a Bayern player there were rumours of interest from Manchester United, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and A.C. Milan,[5] 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 debut for Chelsea 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. Upon doing so, William Gallas who previously wore the number 13 shirt for Chelsea was given the number 3 shirt. This move created animosity between Gallas and the club as Gallas felt that he was underappreciated.[6] On 27 August 2006, Ballack earned his English League debut for Chelsea against Blackburn Rovers, and his UEFA Champions League debut for Chelsea against Werder Bremen.

Ballack scored his first goal for Chelsea on 21 September 2006 in the latter match against Werder Bremen. He received his first straight red card of his career in Chelsea's 1-0 win over Liverpool on 17 September 2006, after being judged to have stamped on Mohamed Sissoko's leg. Ballack scored his first goal in the English League on 21 October 2006 against Portsmouth at home with a header. 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 eight goals in all competitions for the club in the 2006–07 season, including a free-kick against Everton at Goodison Park, as well as a half-volley against FC Porto which sent Chelsea through to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League.

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.

Chelsea left Ballack out of their Champions League squad for the 2007–08 group stage as they realised that his injury would prevent him from playing any useful part and preferred to select the fully fit Steve Sidwell. The German international had an ankle operation in the summer and Chelsea could not take the risk of him not regaining full fitness before the end of the Group Stage. Thus, Ballack could not play in the Champions League before the knockout stages began in February.[7] The club was only able to select 23 out of a possible 25 players for their Champions League squad due to the new UEFA regulations on 'association-trained players' and 'club-trained players'. Due to this regulation Chelsea were also unable to select young player Scott Sinclair and could only pick 23 players as their only 'club-trained player' was John Terry. For this reason it was deemed unwise to gamble on Ballack being fit at some point.[8]

He was absent for eight months with an ankle injury, during which he feared that his football career might be in danger of ending as he was getting older. He made his return to the side in Chelsea's 2–0 Carling Cup win over Liverpool on 19 December. Ballack tallied an assist late in the game to striker Andriy Shevchenko. On 26 December, Ballack made his league return in a thrilling game against Aston Villa which ended 4–4. He came on for Frank Lampard in the 26th minute after the latter had picked up a thigh injury. In first-half stoppage time, he won a penalty after being brought down in the box by Zat Knight which Andriy Shevchenko converted. In the 88th minute, with the scores tied at 3–3, Ballack stepped up to take a free-kick which he buried into the bottom left corner of the goal, but the match ended in a 4–4 draw.

Ballack captained the Chelsea team in the absence of captain John Terry, vice captain Frank Lampard in a 2–1 win over Newcastle on 29 December 2007. Ballack then played his 50th game in a Chelsea shirt in a 2–1 win against Fulham in which he scored the winning goal for Chelsea. He also scored the only goal that won the match for Chelsea against Reading to extend the blues' winning streak to a record of 9. And, on 5 March, he scored again, this time against Olympiacos CFP in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 in a 3-0 win.

With Chelsea's progress to the 2007–2008 Champions League Quarter-Finals, Michael Ballack is the only player to have reached the Champions League Quarter-Finals with four different clubs. He scored the winning goal in the 2-0 win in the 2nd leg of the Quarter-Finals against Fenerbahçe S.K., a victory that secured Chelsea a place in the Semi-Finals.

Ballack continued to score vital goals and on 26 April 2008, he scored a header and a penalty to give Chelsea a 2-1 win over Manchester United. He was named Man of The Match for his performance. It brought the two teams level in the race for the Premier League title only two matchdays before the end of the season.

The season ended on a low note for Ballack as Chelsea finished runners up in the Carling Cup, Premier League and UEFA Champions League. This completed another treble horror for Ballack and his club. On 29 June 2008 Germany, captained by Ballack, lost to Spain 1-0 in the final of Euro 2008. This became the second season in Ballack's career that he was runner-up for four major trophies.

The 2008–09 season started well for Ballack, he set up Joe Cole to score the first goal in a 4-0 win over Portsmouth in the first game of the season. Ballack was injured shortly after missing the games against Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal. Ballack's return from injury has been a lift for Chelsea as he set up Deco to score a scissor kick in a 2-0 win against Bolton. Ballack's first goal of the 09 season came against Southend in there FA Cup replay, a match which Chelsea went on to win 4-1.

International career

Ballack converting a penalty for Germany at the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup in a match against Australia

On 26 March 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 28 April 1999, when he came on as a substitute for Dietmar Hamann in a match against Scotland.

Ballack only played 63 minutes at Euro 2000. In the 2002 FIFA World Cup he scored in matches against USA and South Korea during the knock-out rounds as Germany reached the final. However he was booked for a tactical foul during the semifinal match against South Korea and was suspended for the final; Germany went on to lose 2-0 to Brazil.

Following Euro 2004, Jürgen Klinsmann replaced Rudi Völler at the helm of the national team and made Ballack the side's 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,[9] and was included in FIFA's World Cup All Star Team.

On 6 February 2008, Ballack played his first match since returning from injury in a 3-0 friendly win over Austria.

Ballack started and captained Germany's first game of the UEFA Euro 2008 tournament against Poland. He scored a free kick against Austria to secure Germany a 1-0 win and a place in the quarter-finals. In the quarter-finals he scored a header against Portugal to make the score 3-1 in their 3-2 win after feed by Bastian Schweinsteiger free kick in 60th minute, helping Germany to advance to the semi-finals. After Germany beat Turkey 3-2, he captained them in the final, losing 1-0 to Spain. He was named in the UEFA Team of the Tournament.

Ballack can boast that Germany have never lost a game when he has scored all the way dating back to December 2004.

Statistics

Club

As of 15 January 2009

Template:Football player statistics 1 Template:Football player statistics 2 |- |1995–96||rowspan="2"|Chemnitz||2. Bundesliga||15||0||||||colspan="2"|-||15||0 |- |1996–97||Regionalliga||34||10||||||colspan="2"|-||34||10 |- |1997–98||rowspan="2"|Kaiserslautern||rowspan="2"|Bundesliga||16||0||2||0||colspan="2"|-||18||0 |- |1998–99||30||4||2||0||5||0||37||4 |- |1999–00||rowspan="3"|Bayer Leverkusen||rowspan="3"|Bundesliga||23||3||0||0||2||2||25||5 |- |2000–01||27||7||2||0||5||1||34||8 |- |2001–02||29||17||4||1||15||7||48||25 |- |2002–03||rowspan="4"|Bayern Munich||rowspan="4"|Bundesliga||26||10||5||4||7||1||38||15 |- |2003–04||28||7||3||2||8||0||39||9 |- |2004–05||27||13||4||3||9||2||40||18 |- |2005–06||26||14||5||1||6||1||37||16 Template:Football player statistics 2 |- |2006–07||rowspan="3"|Chelsea||rowspan="3"|Premier League||26||4||9||1||10||2||45||7 |- |2007–08||18||7||0||0||7||2||25||9 |- |2008–09||17||0||4||3||4||0||25||3 Template:Football player statistics 3281||85||27||11||57||14||365||110 Template:Football player statistics 461||11||13||4||20||4||95||19 Template:Football player statistics 5342||96||40||15||77||18||460||129 |}

National team

All-time national team performance
National team Year Friendlies International
competition 		Total
App Goals App Goals App  Goals
Germany 2008 8 1 8 3 12 4
2007 1 0 1 0 2 0
2006 7 3 7 3 14 6
2005 7 3 4 4 11 7
2004 10 7 3 1 13 8
2003 1 0 4 2 5 2
2002 3 1 8 5 11 6
2001 2 0 7 6 9 6
2000 5 0 4 0 9 0
1999 1 0 2 0 3 0
Total 41 15 48 24 89 39

International goals

Scores and results table. Germany's goal tally first:
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 28 March 2001 Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece  Greece 2-1 4-2 FIFA World Cup 2002 qualifying
2. 2 June 2001 Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland  Finland 1-2 2-2 FIFA World Cup 2002 qualifying
3. 6 June 2001 Qemal Stafa Stadium, Tirana, Albania  Albania 2-0 2-0 FIFA World Cup 2002 qualifying
4. 10 November 2001 Olimpiysky National Sports Complex, Kyiv, Ukraine  Ukraine 1-1 1-1 FIFA World Cup 2002 qualifying (European Play-offs)
5. 14 November 2001 Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, Germany  Ukraine 1-0 4-1 FIFA World Cup 2002 qualifying (European Play-offs)
6. 14 November 2001 Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, Germany  Ukraine 4-0 4-1 FIFA World Cup 2002 qualifying (European Play-offs)
7. 1 June 2002 Sapporo Dome, Sapporo, Japan  Saudi Arabia 3-0 8-0 FIFA World Cup 2002
8. 21 June 2002 Munsu Cup Stadium, Ulsan, South Korea  United States 1-0 1-0 FIFA World Cup 2002
9. 25 June 2002 Seoul World Cup Stadium, Seoul, South Korea  South Korea 1-0 1-0 FIFA World Cup 2002
10. 21 August 2002 Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria  Bulgaria 1-1 2-2 Friendly match
11. 7 September 2002 S. Darius and S. Girėnas Stadium, Kaunas, Lithuania  Lithuania 1-0 2-0 UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
12. 16 October 2002 AWD Arena, Hannover, Germany  Faroe Islands 1-0 2-1 UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
13. 10 September 2003 Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, Germany  Scotland 2-0 2-1 UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
14. 11 October 2003 AOL Arena, Hamburg, Germany  Iceland 1-0 3-0 UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
15. 31 March 2004 RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne, Germany  Belgium 3-0 3-0 Friendly match
16. 27 May 2004 Dreisamstadion, Freiburg, Germany  Malta 1-0 7-0 Friendly match
17. 27 May 2004 Dreisamstadion, Freiburg, Germany  Malta 2-0 7-0 Friendly match
18. 27 May 2004 Dreisamstadion, Freiburg, Germany  Malta 5-0 7-0 Friendly match
19. 27 May 2004 Dreisamstadion, Freiburg, Germany  Malta 6-0 7-0 Friendly match
20. 23 June 2004 Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal  Czech Republic 1-0 1-2 UEFA Euro 2004
21. 16 December 2004 International Stadium, Yokohama, Japan  Japan 2-0 3-0 Friendly match
22. 19 December 2004 Busan Asiad Stadium, Busan, South Korea  South Korea 1-1 1-3 Friendly match
23. 4 June 2005 Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland  Northern Ireland 2-1 4-1 Friendly match
24. 4 June 2005 Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland  Northern Ireland 3-1 4-1 Friendly match
25. 15 June 2005 Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany  Australia 3-2 4-3 FIFA Confederations Cup 2005
26. 18 June 2005 RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne, Germany  Tunisia 1-0 3-0 FIFA Confederations Cup 2005
27. 25 June 2005 Frankenstadion, Nuremberg, Germany  Brazil 2-2 2-3 FIFA Confederations Cup 2005
28. 29 June 2005 Zentralstadion, Leipzig, Germany  Mexico 4-3 4-3 (a.e.t.) FIFA Confederations Cup 2005
29. 17 August 2005 Feijenoord Stadion, Rotterdam, Netherlands  Netherlands 2-1 2-2 Friendly match
30. 22 March 2006 Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany  United States 4-0 4-1 Friendly match
31. 2 June 2006 Borussia-Park, Mönchengladbach, Germany  Colombia 1-0 3-0 Friendly match
32. 6 September 2006 Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle, San Marino  San Marino 4-0 13-0 UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
33. 7 October 2006 Ostseestadion, Rostock, Germany  Georgia 2-0 2-0 Friendly match
34. 11 October 2006 Tehelné pole, Bratislava, Slovakia  Slovakia 2-0 4-1 UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
35. 15 November 2006 GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus  Cyprus 1-0 1-1 UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
36. 31 May 2008 Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany  Serbia 2-1 2-1 Friendly match
37. 16 June 2008 Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria  Austria 1-0 1-0 UEFA Euro 2008
38. 19 June 2008 St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland  Portugal 3-1 3-2 UEFA Euro 2008
39. 11 October 2008 Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany  Russia 2-0 2-1 FIFA World Cup 2010 qualifying

Honours

Club

Chemnitz

FC Kaiserslautern

Bayer Leverkusen

Bayern Munich

Chelsea

Germany

Personal

Preceded by UEFA Champions League Best Midfielder
2001–02 		Succeeded by
Preceded by German Footballer of the Year
2002, 2003 		Succeeded by
Preceded by German Footballer of the Year
2005 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Germany captain
2004–Present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent

References

  1. ^ "Michael Ballack Official profile". www.michael-ballack.com. 2009-01-16. Retrieved 2009-01-16.
  2. ^ "Balanced Ballack is the finished article". telegraph.co.uk. 2006-03-07. Retrieved 2008-03-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ "Rummenigge: Ballack Deal Done". sportinglife.com. Retrieved 2008-03-14.
  4. ^ "Chelsea announce Ballack capture". BBC Sport. 2006-05-15. Retrieved 2006-05-15.
  5. ^ "Ballack to keep suitors waiting". BBC Sport. 2005-11-16. Retrieved 2006-05-15.
  6. ^ "Mourinho gives Ballack Gallas' lucky No 13 shirt". The Independent. 2006-08-03. Retrieved 2008-11-28.
  7. ^ "Blues omit Ballack from Euro list". BBC Sport. 2007-09-04. Retrieved 2008-03-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ "The Official Chelsea FC Website". Retrieved 2008-03-14.
  9. ^ "Player Profile Page - BALLACK Michael". fifaworldcup.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2006-07-09.

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