Euro 2008: Michael Ballack's greatness hinges on German glory in Austria and Switzerland

Euro 2008: Michael Ballack's greatness hinges on German glory in Austria and Switzerland



Euro 2008: Michael Ballack's greatness hinges on German glory in Austria and Switzerland

By Oliver Brown
Last Updated: 1:00am BST 03/06/2008

Michael Ballack is beloved of German football fans - indeed, he is the embodiment of all the talismanic qualities that they seek in a player. Moody, complex, but always passionate, his contribution to the national team has been so significant and sustained that his progress to join a pantheon of greats comprising Franz Beckenbauer, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Lothar Matthaus has been viewed as all but assured.
# Henry Winter: England flags will still flutter
# Football fans' forum
# Premier League Transfer Talk | Calendar: Euro 2008 fixtures

With suggestions that Ballack is already thinking of retirement at 31, Euro 2008 represents his chance to fulfil that prophecy.

Euro 2008: Michael Ballack's greatness hinges on German glory
Point to prove: Michael Ballack has yet to win international honours

While his advancement at club level has been seamless - his powerful midfield attributes at FC Chemnitzer guaranteeing increasingly lucrative moves to Kaiserslautern, Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, and Chelsea - his international legacy is not quite complete.

At one level, that might seem a questionable assertion. After all, has he not, since his Germany debut in 1999, marked his 81 caps with 36 goals, the kind of midfield return to make even David Beckham envious? For four years, too, he has been captain, and has played in two World Cup semi-finals, missing out on the 2002 final only through suspension.

And yet there is still ambivalence to be resolved. Germany have not won a major championship since 1996 and the fact that the only honour secured under Ballack's captaincy was third place at the World Cup two years ago threatens to form the epitaph to his international career. A sense of what might have been pervades an analysis of his time with the national side.

Certainly, Ballack's is not a record to stand much comparison with that of Beckenbauer, with one World Cup and one European Championship winner's medal to his name. Matthaus, more recently, accomplished that same coveted double. Ballack is yet to join their bracket of greatness, even if he did almost single-handedly ensure Germany's quarter-final and semi-final wins in 2002 through brute tenacity. More seriously, there is doubt as to whether those performances have reflected any qualities more subtle than those of the determined warrior. As yet there are no displays in a German side to sit alongside Matthaus' eclipsing of Maradona in the 1990 final, or Beckenbauer's domination of the 1974 final.
advertisement

But Ballack should never be written off. When Chelsea failed even to include him in their Champions League squad last season there was conjecture that his long-term ankle injury would seal his demise, at club level at least - that he would sit out the remainder of his days in meaningless, moneyed exile. By sheer defiance he came back stronger. He recognised, even through the sweetener of £130,000 a week, that he had a point to prove.

The same challenge defines his duties with Germany. In the team's 2-1 victory over Serbia last week, Ballack unleashed the winning free-kick. For coach Joachim Loew, it was potent proof that there is life in his captain yet. For Ballack himself - who, for all Cristiano Ronaldo's fireworks, is still being touted as a possible winner of the Ballon D'Or - it was reassurance, and a reminder that his work is not yet done.
source : www.telegraph.co.uk