Michael Ballack
Michael Ballack is a German former professional footballer who is now a football agent. He was selected by Pelé as one of FIFA's 100 Greatest Living Players, and as the UEFA Club Midfielder of the Year in 2002. He won the German Footballer of the Year award three times – in 2002, 2003 and 2005. Ballack was known for his passing range, powerful shot, physical strength and commanding presence in midfield.
Ballack began his career as a youth at enterprise sports community BSG Motor "Fritz Heckert" Karl-Marx-Stadt in 1983. He then joined the youth department of football club FC Karl-Marx-Stadt. Ballack made his debut for Germany's under-21 side on 26 March 1996. Although the team were relegated in his first season, his performances in the Regionalliga the following season led to a transfer to 1. FC Kaiserslautern in 1997. He won the Bundesliga in his first season at the club, his first major honour. He became a first team regular in 1998–99 season and also earned his first senior national cap for Germany. He moved to Bayer Leverkusen for €4.1 million in 1999. The 2001–02 season saw him win a slew of runners-up medals: Bayer Leverkusen finished second in the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, UEFA Champions League and Germany lost to Brazil in the 2002 World Cup Final.
A €12.9 million move to Bayern Munich led to further honours: the team won the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal double in 2003, 2005 and 2006. Ballack had become a prolific goalscorer from midfield, scoring 58 goals for Bayern between 2002 and 2006. He joined Premier League club Chelsea in mid-2006 and won English honours in his first season at the club. Injury ruled him out of much of 2007, but he returned the following season to help Chelsea reach their first ever Champions League final. He also went on to win the FA Cup again in 2009 and then once more as part of a league and cup double in 2010.
Internationally, Ballack has played in the UEFA European Football Championship in 2000, 2004 and 2008, and the FIFA World Cup in 2002 and 2006. Jürgen Klinsmann appointed him captain of the national team in 2004. Ballack scored consecutive game-winning goals in the quarter-final and semi-final to help his country to the 2002 World Cup final and led his team to the semi-finals of the 2006 World Cup and the Euro 2008 final. He is among the top goal scorers in the history of the Germany national team.
Early life
Ballack was born on 26 September 1976 in Görlitz, a town in Bezirk Dresden, East Germany. He is the only child of Stephan Ballack, an engineer, and his wife Karin, a secretary. The family moved to Chemnitz when Ballack was very young and it was there that he started to play football. He first began playing football for sports community.Club career
Chemnitzer FC
Ballack's parents sent him to train with sports community BSG Motor "Fritz Heckert" Karl-Marx-Stadt at the age of seven. Ballack was praised by coach Steffen Hänisch. Hänisch was particularly impressed by the well-developed technique for Ballack's age and his ability to shoot with both feet. Ballack was then allowed to attend the elite Children and Youth Sports School "Emil Wallner" in Karl-Marx-Stadt. He then joined the larger and more promoted football club FC Karl-Marx-Stadt in 1988. The father of Ballack had played second-division football himself in Germany.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 "Der 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 15 appearances, Chemnitz were relegated to the multi-tiered, regional third division. 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 be promoted, but in the summer of 1997, coach Otto Rehhagel of just-promoted 1. FC Kaiserslautern signed Ballack at their return to top flight football.
1. FC Kaiserslautern
It was during the seventh match of the 1997–98 Bundesliga season, away to Karlsruhe, that Rehhagel decided to give Ballack his first Bundesliga appearance, substituting him onto the field for the final five minutes of the encounter. On 28 March 1998, Ballack made his first-team debut-start against Bayer Leverkusen.Ballack made 16 appearances for his new team during the season as the club became the first-ever newly promoted team to lift the Bundesliga title. In the following season, Ballack became both a regular member of the team and one of the side's leading players. Kaiserslautern reached the quarter finals of the Champions League, but were eliminated by Bayern Munich.
On 1 July 1999, Ballack moved to Bayer Leverkusen at age 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 nine in Europe over the course of his three seasons at the BayArena.In 2000, Bayer Leverkusen needed only a draw against minnows SpVgg Unterhaching to win the Bundesliga 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. The 2001–02 season was a disappointing one for Bayer Leverkusen. In the 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 UEFA Champions League final 2–1 to Real Madrid; and lost the DFB-Pokal final 4–2 to Schalke 04. These three runner-up finishes were dubbed a "Treble Horror": Bayer Leverkusen was dubbed "Bayer Neverkusen" in English, while the German nickname became Vizekusen. Ballack and Leverkusen teammates Bernd Schneider, Carsten Ramelow and Oliver Neuville were also beaten finalists with Germany in the 2002 FIFA 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 as being named German Footballer of the Year.
Bayern Munich
In spite of Real Madrid's interest, Ballack decided to sign with Bayern Munich in a €6 million deal in 2002 after his impressive performances in the World Cup. In his first season with the club, Bayern won the Bundesliga with 75 points as well as the DFB-Pokal, with Ballack scoring twice and defeating former club 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the latter's final. In his second season, however, Bayern lost both their Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal crowns to Werder Bremen.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. In four seasons at Bayern, Ballack won three Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal doubles, scoring 44 goals in 107 Bundesliga matches. Between 1998 and 2005, Ballack scored 61 goals in total in the domestic league.
Ballack's critics, however, 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-Pokal final against Eintracht Frankfurt.
Chelsea
Ballack agreed to join English Premier League club Chelsea on a free transfer on 15 May 2006. During his last season with Bayern, there were rumours of interest from Manchester United, Real Madrid, Internazionale and Milan, but Ballack instead chose to go to Stamford Bridge. Shortly after arriving at Chelsea, Ballack stated that he hoped to end his career at Chelsea.2006–07 season
Ballack's debut for Chelsea came on 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. Ballack made his competitive debut in the 2006 FA Community Shield, but went off injured in the first half. On 27 August 2006, Ballack made his Premier League debut for Chelsea against Blackburn Rovers. On 12 September, he scored his first goal for the club on his Champions League debut against Werder Bremen.He received the 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 Premier League goal on 21 October 2006 against Portsmouth at Stamford Bridge with a header. His first FA Cup goal came in the 109th minute in the semi-final against Blackburn 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 Porto which sent Chelsea through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Throughout his first season at Chelsea, Ballack was criticised for his lethargic performances – for playing as though he had "a huge cigar in his mouth".
On 29 April 2007, Chelsea released a statement on their official website, informing fans that Ballack had undergone ankle surgery in Munich. As a result, 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 League Cup, the final of which he started.