Michael Ballack biography: German football player

Michael Ballack biography - German football player

born September 26, 1976 in Görlitz, German Democratic Republic

Place of birth Görlitz, German Democratic Republic
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)

Club App (Gls)

Chemnitzer FC 49 (10)
1. FC Kaiserslautern 063 (12)
Bayer Leverkusen 79 (27)
FC Bayern Munich 107 (44)
Chelsea 25 (4) Up to 17 March 2007

National team
1999- Germany 77 (35)

He has achieved the role of captain of the German national team, and plays club Soccer for Chelsea F.C. in the English FA Premier League.

Known for being a versatile and athletic player, comfortable in attack and defence, Ballack is tall, which makes him good in aerial battles. He made his name as a box to box midfielder with Bayer Leverkusen, where he operated as a central midfielder, taking on defensive and attacking responsibilities. Later in his career, at FC Bayern Munich, under the guidance of Ottmar Hitzfeld and Felix Magath, Ballack excelled 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 box to box for the German national team.

Chemnitzer FC
Ballack started his career with BSG Motor Karl-Marx-Stadt. 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 in Germany. Ballack's was able to use both feet with equal authority.

In 1995, Ballack eanred 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 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, two months after his first full international, Ballack moved to Bayer Leverkusen at the age of 22, for a transfer fee of 8 m Deutschmarks (€4.8 m).

Bayer Leverkusen
It was at Bayer Leverkusen Ballack made his breakthrough. Coaches Christoph Daum and Klaus Toppmöller granted him the pitch as his territory. With Bayer, he 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 were second in the Bundesliga, and were beaten in both the UEFA Champions League final and German Cup final. He and Leverkusen teammates Bernd Schneider, Carsten Ramelow, and Oliver Neuville were even beaten finalists with Germany in the 2002 World Cup). 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

Ballack playing for Bayen 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 scored 61 goals in his domestic league.

There was 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 was to Bayern. Ballack also rubbished accusations money was his primary motivation in moving to Chelsea, stating that he earned well at Bayern. Ballack stated 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.

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 chose 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.

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. Ballack scored his first Premiership goal on 21 October 2006 against Portsmouth F.C. in a home game at Stamford Bridge. 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. Recently, his performances have been improving after critisism from football pundits and fans. He has now scored 8 goals in all competitions for the club.

On 28th April 2007, Chelsea F.C released a statement on the official website, informing fans Ballack had undergone ankle surgery in Munich.

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 were playing Scotland , and Ballack came on after sixty minutes to replace Dietmar Hamann. The game was a friendly, but it was an upset and was lost.

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. 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. 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.

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). Pele named Ballack among the worlds greatest 125 living footballers in FIFA's 2004 FIFA 100

In 2004, then 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 national captain. Ballack has worn the number 13 shirt for every club that he has played for, as well as the German national team.

Honours
Award/Milestone/Championship Year(s)
German Championship 1998, 2003, 2005, 2006
FIFA World Cup Runner up 2002 Did not play in final, due to suspension, but scored goal, to win side to final, in the semi final
FIFA World Cup 3rd Place 2006
UEFA Champions League Runner-up 2002
German Player of the Year 2002, 2003, 2005
UEFA Midfielder of the Year 2002
Soccer Digest World Player of the Year 2002
German Cup Winner 2003, 2005, 2006
English League Cup Winner 2007

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