Germany's title hopes suffered a great set back as Captain Michael Ballack was ruled out of the World Cup due to an ankle injury! Ballack injured his ankle playing for Chelsea in the FA Cup final against Portsmouth. iSporter Suraj Kori reports.
Ballack was injured in the first half from a tackle by Kevin-Prince Boateng. It was a disastrous tackle but the referee gave Boateng a yellow card instead of sending him off... The news came to everyone as a great shock and to me too as I am one of his greatest fans.
Losing a captain is always bad for any team but losing some like Ballack is just unimaginable. He is a great source of inspiration to his team-mates! He is the most influential players in the German side. Ballack is simply irreplaceable and there is no one in the team who can take his place. His free-kicks are bull's-eye giving Germany the edge over its opponents. He is a true dead ball expert!
Ballack started his international career for Germany on 28th April 1999 in a match against Scotland. He played a very important role in Germany's 2002 World Cup campaign. Germany reached the finals but lost to Brazil 2-0 and had to settle for the 2nd position. Ballack missed the final sue to suspension and Germany did really miss him. He was though included in the World Cup All Star Team. He was also included in the FIFA's World Cup All Star Team for a second consecutive time in 2006.
In UEFA Euro 2008 he played like a champion leading the team form the front! Germany lost its opening match to Croatia but came back strongly to make it to the semis. It was Ballack who filled in the confidence in players that they can win the cup. Well, who can forget his free kick against Austria which gave them a 1-0 win a place in the quarter-final. He scored in almost every match of the tournament and should have been named the player of the tournament... Even here he was named in the Team of the Tournament!
Had Ballack played the World Cup, he would have reached the magical figure of 100 caps for his national side. This would have been a remarkable achievement for him. A figure which is a dream for every player... This would have been his 3rd World Cup appearance. He won't be able to appear for his country at such a big stage considering that he is currently 33years old.
Ballack is a true legend and even Pele has included him in 100 great living players! He is my idol and it is for him that I started playing football. I even changed my jersey no. from 33 to 13 just because of him. He is God to me!
With Ballack not in the team, Germany's chances of winning the World Cup are really shattered! Schweinsteiger will have to take up the responsibility in his absence. Loew will have to come out with something extraordinary if Germany has to win it. He has to convince the players that they can win the World Cup even without Ballack. But everyone knows that winning without him would be next to impossible!
Get well soon Ballack! I am just hoping for some miracle and that he appears in the World Cup...
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