Michael Ballack personal life. Biography of Michael Ballack

Soon Michael's family moved to Karl-Marx-Stadt (now Chemnitz). It was in the city, named after the great economist, philosopher and leader of the world labor movement, that Ballack began playing football. He fit the standard of a GDR athlete perfectly - he was a tall, strong, hardy boy. At the Motor club school he took his first steps in football. Since childhood he played in midfield.

The beginning of a club career

In 1995, Ballack made his debut at the highest level in the second Bundesliga club Chemnitzer FC (in 1990, the city of Karl-Marx-Stadt was returned to its historical name - Chemnitz). In his first season at senior level, Ballack played 15 games, and Chemnitz was relegated from the second Bundesliga to the regional league. In the 1996/97 season, Ballack was the leader of the club, scored 10 goals in 34 matches, and received a call-up to the youth team. An invitation followed from Kaiserslautern, which, under the leadership of Otto Rehhagel, had just returned to the Bundesliga. So, in the summer of 1997, Ballack moved to Kaiserslautern.

"Kaiserslautern"

Ballack's first season at Kaiserslautern became controversial - he played little (only 16 matches without goals), however, he received very good marks for his play (average score from Kicker - 2.96), was regularly called up to the youth team, but at the same time became the champion of Germany! For the first time in the history of German football, a team that played a year earlier in the second Bundesliga won the national championship! So Michael won his first title in big football. However, not everything was smooth - during the season, Ballack had a fight with Otto Rehhagel due to the fact that he played little. At the same time, Rehhagel constantly emphasized in an interview that he considered Ballack a very talented player. However, already in the next championship, King Otto used Ballack to the fullest. Michael played 30 matches in the Bundesliga, scored 4 goals, and made his debut in the Champions League, where Kaiserslautern reached the quarterfinals. It is interesting that Ballack did not have a permanent position on the field - he played both as a holding midfielder and as a playmaker, sometimes even on the flank. He often came on as a substitute. Relations with Rechhagel remained strained, and sports publications predicted Ballack's transfer to another team. In the spring of 1999, Kaiserslautern received an offer from Bayer Leverkusen to sell Ballack. The negotiations were very difficult. But in the end, Ballack became a player in the aspirin club.

Bayer 04

In the new team, Michael very quickly became one of the members. This was largely due to the confidence of head coach Christophe Daum. Ballack became a solid member of the main team, fitting perfectly into Daum's tactical model. At the same time, Ballack played in his favorite position as a supporting midfielder. The 1999/2000 season was a turning point for our hero. If earlier Ballack was talked about as a promising, talented football player, now Michael, one of those promising, has finally transformed into a real master. Ballack himself said before and now admits that Daum’s great merit is in this. But let's go back to that season. His start was overshadowed by an injury, due to which he missed many games at the start of the championship, largely due to the absence of Ballack, Bayer 04 failed to qualify from the group in the Champions League. Having recovered, Ballack demonstrated sparkling football, matching the whole team. Leverkusen confidently walked towards the championship title, showing spectacular, attacking play. Ballack himself was regularly called up to the German national team and received high marks for his play. But the ending was tragic. In the last round, it was enough for Bayer to draw away with the modest Unterhaching, which had already guaranteed itself against relegation from the Bundesliga. Bayern Munich, chasing aspirins, did not believe in the failure of their opponents. It got to the point that Munich President Franz Beckenbauer, on the eve of the last round, flew off on a tour of Oceania, campaigning for FIFA representatives to hold the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Imagine the Kaiser’s surprise when his wife called him and said that Bayern had become the champion! Ballack calls that match with Unterhaching the worst of his career. And how could it be otherwise! It was his own goal, after which the opponents took the lead, that was essentially decisive. Leverkusen rushed to win back, did not convert their few chances, and at the end of the match Unterhaching succeeded in a counterattack, and the score became 0:2. The championship title has slipped from my hands.

Michael Ballack was born on September 26, 1976 in Görlitz, a small town right on the border with Poland. Soon Michael's family moved to Karl-Marx-Stadt. It was in the city, named after the great economist, philosopher and leader of the world labor movement, that Ballack began playing football. He perfectly fit the standard of a GDR athlete - he was a tall, strong, hardy boy. At the Motor club school he took his first steps in football. Since childhood he played in midfield.

In 1995, Ballack made his debut at the highest level in the second Bundesliga club Chemnitzer FC (in 1990, the city of Karl-Marx-Stadt was returned to its historical name - Chemnitz). In his first season at senior level, Ballack played 15 games, and Chemnitz was relegated from the second Bundesliga to the regional league. In the 1996/97 season, Ballack was the leader of the club, scored 10 goals in 34 matches, and received a call-up to the youth team. An invitation followed from Kaiserslautern, which, under the leadership of Otto Rechhagel, had just returned to the Bundesliga. So, in the summer of 1997, Ballack moved to Kaiserslautern.

Ballack's first season at Kaiserslautern became controversial - he played little (only 16 matches, not a single goal), however, he received very good marks for his play (the average score from Kicker was 2.96, despite the fact that 1 – highest score, 6 – lowest), was regularly called up to the youth team, but at the same time became the champion of Germany! For the first time in the history of German football, a team that played a year earlier in the second Bundesliga won the national championship! So Michael won his first title in big football. However, not everything was smooth - during the season, Ballack had a fight with Otto Rechhagel due to the fact that he played little. At the same time, Rechhagel constantly emphasized in an interview that he considered Ballack a very talented player. However, already in the next championship, King Otto used Ballack to the fullest. Michael played 30 matches in the Bundesliga, scored 4 goals, and made his debut in the Champions League, where Kaiserslautern reached the quarterfinals. It is interesting that Ballack did not have a permanent position on the field - he played both as a holding midfielder and as a playmaker, sometimes even on the flank. He often came on as a substitute. Relations with Rechhagel remained strained, and sports publications predicted Ballack's transfer to another team. In the spring of 1999, Kaiserslautern received an offer from Bayer Leverkusen to sell Ballack. The negotiations were very difficult. But in the end, Ballack became a player in the aspirin club.

In the new team, Michael very quickly became one of the members. This was largely due to the confidence of head coach Christophe Daum. Ballack became a solid member of the main team, fitting perfectly into Daum's tactical model. At the same time, Ballack played in his favorite position as a supporting midfielder. The 1999/2000 season was a turning point for our hero. If earlier Ballack was talked about as a promising, talented football player, now Michael, one of those promising, has finally transformed into a real master. Ballack himself said before and now admits that Daum’s great merit is in this. But let's go back to that season. His start was overshadowed by an injury, due to which he missed many games at the start of the championship, largely due to the absence of Ballack, Bayer failed to qualify from the group in the Champions League. Having recovered, Ballack demonstrated sparkling football, matching the whole team. Leverkusen confidently walked towards the championship title, showing spectacular, attacking play. Ballack himself was regularly called up to the German national team and received high marks for his play. But the ending was tragic. In the last round, it was enough for Bayer to draw away with the modest Unterhaching, which had already guaranteed itself against relegation from the Bundesliga. Bayern Munich, chasing aspirins, did not believe in the failure of their opponents. It got to the point that Munich President Franz Beckenbauer, on the eve of the last round, flew off on a tour of Oceania, campaigning for FIFA representatives to hold the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Imagine the Kaiser’s surprise when his wife called him and said that Bayern had become the champion! Ballack calls that match with Unterhaching the worst of his career.

And how could it be otherwise! It was his own goal, after which the opponents took the lead, that was essentially decisive. Leverkusen rushed to win back, did not convert their few chances, and at the end of the match Unterhaching succeeded in a counterattack, and the score became 0:2. The championship title has slipped from my hands.

Another huge disappointment was the European Championships in Belgium and Holland. Torn apart by internal team squabbles, having neither a staged game nor a clear main composition, the German national team failed miserably. Ballack played 18 minutes as a substitute in the match against the English (0:1), and spent the first half of the game with the Portuguese (0:3).

In the 2000/2001 season, German football experienced one of the most notorious scandals in its entire more than hundred-year history. It turned out that Christophe Daum, who was supposed to lead the national team in the summer of 2001, was taking cocaine. This story, in addition to Daum himself, who was forced to refuse further work in the national team, hit Bayer the hardest. Having lost their coach during the season, the team was unable to rise above fourth place in the Bundesliga and again did not pass the first group stage of the Champions League. Ballack, like the rest of Bayer, played unevenly. However, it was in that season that he won a place in the main team.

The 2001/2002 season was the most successful for Michael Ballack so far. He finally turned into a world-class star, which was facilitated by both his brilliant play and the high results of Bayer and the German national team. But here’s the paradox: in four tournaments, Ballack’s teams took second place every time! Klaus Toppmöller, a devotee of the attacking game, was appointed the new head coach of Bayer. In the past, an excellent forward (108 goals in 204 Bundesliga matches for Kaiserslautern), Toppmöller achieved truly amazing results during his year at the club! Under Toppmöller, Ballack's game changed somewhat. Now he paid much less attention to defensive actions, began to participate more often in attacks, and took all free throws and penalties. Bayer's trio of central midfielders consisted of Karsten Ramelow, who did the grunt work, playmaker Yildiray Baştürk and Ballack. They tore apart the visitors' defense with active support from the flanks, where the Argentinean Placente and Bernd Schneider (who sometimes played in the center) played. And if you take into account that the Brazilian Lucio often joined the attack, and the Kirsten-Noyville duo played in front, then the opponent was simply lost.

Best of the day

In 29 Bundesliga games, Ballack scored 17 goals. He played no less effectively in the German Cup and Champions League. His powerful strikes terrified European goalkeepers. In the Champions League, Bayer made a splash - beating such giants as Lyon, Deportivo and Juventus in the group tournaments, and then beating Liverpool in the quarterfinals, and Manchester United in the semifinals, the aspirin team in In the final, she lost to Real Madrid in an even game. Ballack's contribution to this success is very great. The intra-German season once again brought disappointment. Leading the entire championship, Bayer made two misfires at the finish (1:2 from Werder and 0:1 from Nuremberg), which Borussia Dortmund immediately took advantage of. In the end, only second place. The mysticism continued in the German Cup final, in which Bayer lost 2:4 to Schalke 04, and Ballack was sent off.

In the middle of the season, an event occurred that for many football fans seemed inevitable. An agreement was reached on the transfer of Michael Ballack to Bayern Munich in the summer of 2002.

Before the 2002 World Cup, the German team was not among the favorites. Moreover, many predicted a fiasco for the Germans. Bundestim has suffered too many failures in recent years. However, Rudi Völler, having created a very pleasant, friendly atmosphere in the team, showed the world real Germans - fighting to the end, disciplined, determined to win. There is no need to describe the performance of the German national team in Japan and Korea. Fans remember very well the brilliant game and fatal mistake of Oliver Kahn, the goals of Miroslav Klose and Michael Ballack. I think that many people also remember the fact that, having thwarted a dangerous attack by the Koreans in the semi-finals, Ballack received a yellow card, which became his second in the playoff matches and did not give him the opportunity to play in the final, but in the return attack Michael scored the winning one for the Koreans ball. Having played 6 matches at the World Cup, Ballack scored 3 goals. And in mid-July, Michael Ballack was recognized as the best football player in Germany last season.

Ballack's first season with Bayern turned out to be controversial. There were victories in the Bundesliga and the German Cup, but there was also a resounding failure in the Champions League. Michael himself played excellently; it is no coincidence that at the end of the season he was recognized as the best football player in the country. At Bayern, Ballack plays as one of the two central midfielders. In the middle of the 2002/2003 season, Ballack said in an interview that he did not like that he had to work a lot in defense, and that in a 4-4-2 formation the central midfielder was not able to attack properly at all. Ballack was immediately fined.

In general, at present, in Bayern and in the national team, Ballack is under a lot of pressure - he is accused of lacking leadership qualities, of inability to turn the tide of an unsuccessful game. Bavarian fans immediately recall Stefan Effenberg, whom, in their opinion, Ballack is still very far away from. Perhaps the claims regarding Michael Ballack's lack of leadership qualities and charisma are partly justified. You can remember his weak-willed play in the match with England (1:5), in games for Bayern in the 2002/2003 Champions League. But the matches against the USA and Korea at the World Cup, games against the Ukrainian national team (1:1 and 4:1) also come to mind, in which Ballack was a real leader, and the team did go to the World Cup. At the same time, Ballack himself admits that he really lacks leadership qualities.

One way or another, Michael Ballack remains the leading player of Bayern and the German national team.

Michael Ballack lives in a civil marriage with his girlfriend Simone, they have two children - Emilio (born in 2001) and Louis (born in 2002). Favorite car brand is Mercedes. Michael prefers Italian cuisine. Michael Ballack's main fan is his grandfather, who collects all kinds of publications about his grandson and his photographs. Michael loves animals very much - especially his dog Sancho, and hates cartoons about the Simpson family. Ballack is not averse to playing golf or basketball in his spare time. Likes to travel, listen to music and surf the Internet.

Ballack made his professional debut in 1995 for the Second Bundesliga club Chemnitzer. In his first season at senior level, Ballack played 15 matches, and Chemnitzner was relegated from the 2nd Bundesliga to the regional league at the end of the season. In the 1996/97 season, Ballack was the leader of the club, scored 10 goals in 34 matches and received a call-up to the youth team. In the same season, Ballack received an invitation from Kaiserslautern, which, following the results of the 1996/97 season, under the leadership of Otto Rehhagel, returned to the Bundesliga. In the summer of 1997, Ballack moved to Kaiserslautern.

"Kaiserslautern"

On March 28, 1998, Michael Ballack started the match for Kaiserslautern for the first time from the first minute of the match. At the end of the 1997/98 season, Ballack won the national championship as part of Kaiserslautern - for the first time in the history of German football, a team that had played in the Second Bundesliga a year earlier became the German champion. The following season, the club's head coach Otto Rehhagel provided Ballack with more playing time - at the end of the 1998/99 season, the footballer played 30 matches in the Bundesliga and scored 4 goals. Also this season, Michael made his debut in the Champions League, where Kaiserslautern reached the quarterfinals, losing at this stage of the tournament to Bayern Munich. In the spring of 1999, Kaiserslautern received an offer from Bayer Leverkusen to sell Ballack. On July 1, 1999, it became known that Michael Ballack was moving to Bayer Leverkusen for 4.1 million euros.

Bayer 04

In the new team, Michael very quickly became one of the members. This was largely due to the confidence of head coach Christophe Daum. Ballack became a solid member of the main team, fitting perfectly into Daum's tactical model. At the same time, Ballack played in his favorite position as a supporting midfielder. The 1999/2000 season was a turning point for our hero. If earlier Ballack was talked about as a promising, talented football player, now Michael, one of those promising, has finally transformed into a real master. Ballack himself said before and now admits that Daum’s great merit is in this. But let's go back to that season. His start was overshadowed by an injury, due to which he missed many games at the start of the championship, largely due to the absence of Ballack, Bayer 04 failed to qualify from the group in the Champions League. Having recovered, Ballack demonstrated sparkling football, matching the whole team. Leverkusen confidently walked towards the championship title, showing spectacular, attacking play. Ballack himself was regularly called up to the German national team and received high marks for his play. But the ending was tragic. In the last round, it was enough for Bayer to draw away with the modest Unterhaching, which had already guaranteed itself against relegation from the Bundesliga. Bayern Munich, chasing aspirins, did not believe in the failure of their opponents. It got to the point that Munich President Franz Beckenbauer, on the eve of the last round, flew off on a tour of Oceania, campaigning for FIFA representatives to hold the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Imagine the Kaiser’s surprise when his wife called him and said that Bayern had become the champion! Ballack calls that match with Unterhaching the worst of his career. And how could it be otherwise! It was his own goal, after which the opponents took the lead, that was essentially decisive. Leverkusen rushed to win back, did not convert their few chances, and at the end of the match Unterhaching succeeded in a counterattack, and the score became 0:2. The championship title has slipped from my hands.

Another huge disappointment was the European Championships in Belgium and Holland. Torn apart by internal team squabbles, having neither a staged game nor a clear main composition, the German national team failed miserably. Ballack played 18 minutes as a substitute in the match against the English (0:1), and spent the first half of the game with the Portuguese (0:3).

In the 2000/2001 season, German football experienced one of the most notorious scandals in its entire more than hundred-year history. It turned out that Christophe Daum, who was supposed to lead the national team in the summer of 2001, was taking cocaine. This story, in addition to Daum himself, who was forced to refuse further work in the national team, hit Bayer the hardest. Having lost their coach during the season, the team was unable to rise above fourth place in the Bundesliga and again did not pass the first group stage of the Champions League. Ballack, like the rest of Bayer, played unevenly. However, it was in that season that he won a place in the main team.

The 2001/2002 season was the most successful for Michael Ballack so far. He finally turned into a world-class star, which was facilitated by both his brilliant play and the high results of Bayer and the German national team. Klaus Toppmöller, a devotee of the attacking game, was appointed the new head coach of Bayer. Under Toppmöller, Ballack's role on the field changed somewhat: now he paid less attention to defensive actions, began to participate more often in attacks, and took all free throws and penalties. Bayer's trio of central midfielders consisted of Karsten Ramelow, who did the grunt work, playmaker Yildiray Baştürk and Ballack. They tore apart the visitors' defense with active support from the flanks, where the Argentinean Placente and Bernd Schneider (who sometimes played in the center) played.

In 29 games in the Bundesliga, Ballack scored 17 goals. He played no less effectively in the German Cup and Champions League. In the Champions League, Bayer, having beaten Arsenal, Deportivo and Juventus in the group tournaments, beat Liverpool in the quarterfinals and Manchester United in the semifinals. In the final of the 2001/2002 Champions League, Bayer lost to Real Madrid. In the German Championship, Bayer, four rounds before the finish, leading by four points, lost twice in four games (1:2 to Werder and 0:1 to Nuremberg) and drew once (1:1 with Hamburg "), which allowed Borussia Dortmund to be one point ahead of Leverkusen. In the German Cup final, Bayer came within a step of winning the trophy for the third time this season, losing 2:4 to Schalke 04; in this game Ballack was sent off. At the end of the season, Ballack was recognized as the best German football player of the past season

Before the 2002 World Cup, the German team was not considered a favorite. However, Rudi Völler, having created a good team atmosphere in the team, was able to bring the team to the final match. Germany made it to the final part of the tournament, winning the play-off against the Ukrainian team (1:1 and 4:1). At the championship itself, Ballack was one of the leaders of the team; He played six matches, scoring three goals and providing four assists. In the semi-final game against South Korea, Ballack scored the winning goal; at the same time, having thwarted the opponent’s dangerous attack, he received a yellow card, which became his second in the playoffs and did not give him the opportunity to play in the final. His goals against the United States in the quarterfinals and South Korea in the semifinals were the winners. UEFA named Michael Ballack the best midfielder of 2002.

"Bavaria"

In the summer of 2002, Ballack moved to Bayern Munich. The first season was controversial: victory in the Bundesliga and German Cup did not compensate for the resounding failure in the Champions League. Michael himself played excellently; it is no coincidence that at the end of the season he was recognized as the best football player in the country. At Bayern, Ballack plays as one of the two central midfielders. In the middle of the 2002/2003 season, Ballack said in an interview that he did not like that he had to work a lot in defense, and that in a 4-4-2 formation the central midfielder was not able to attack properly at all. Ballack was immediately fined.

Biography, life story of Michael Ballack

Michael Ballack is the leader of the German national football team.
The future captain of the German national team comes from Görlitz, a town located near neighboring Poland. However, he began his football career not in his native Görlitz, but in the growing city of Karl-Marx-Stadt, to which Michael was forced to move with his parents (the name of this city comes from the name of the great sociologist, author of the book “Capital” - Karl Marx). The first football club where the young man from East Germany began his career was the Motor club. But after some time, Ballack moved to the club of the second German Bundesliga “Chemnitzer”. However, a “midfielder by vocation”, despite his brilliant play, Ballack could not contain Chemnitzer in the second Bundesliga and ended up in the regional game. In the 96/97 period, the team's leading player, Michael Ballack, hit the enemy goal 10 times in 34 games! And he was invited to the German youth team. The future captain of the German national team was invited to the Kaiserslautern club (this club recently returned to the Bundersliga). The start of Ballack's career at Kaiserslautern was not so successful. In all 16 games of the season that Ballack played, he did not score a single goal. But he still became the German Champion. Due to unfriendly relations with Kaiserslautern head coach Otto Rechhagel, many magazines predicted Ballack's departure from the club. But despite this, Rechhagel was able to set Ballack up for the game. And Ballack scored 4 goals in 30 games for the team and was able to reach? Champions League.

In 1999, Ballack moved to Bayer Leverkrusen. Ballack felt much more comfortable in Levekrusen. This was greatly influenced by the good relationship with the coach of the team in which the forward of the Ukrainian national team Andrei Voronin would play in the future. But the beginning of his career at this club began with an unpleasant injury, due to which Ballack did not play for a long time. In addition, in the 99/2000 season, Bayer was unable to achieve good results in the Champions League. But after Michael was able to play again, together with Bayer, Ballack set the heat and on the way to big awards in the match with Unterhaching, everything ended unexpectedly for everyone with the defeat of Bayer 2:0. But all the same, Ballack has long played for the national team of his homeland, Germany. But it seemed like a successful career for Bayer's coach, Christophor Dauma, was on the verge of becoming the head coach of the German national team, was exposed for drug use and was forced to not pursue a further coaching career, but without him the team weakened significantly without a worthwhile mentor in the period 2000 /2001, the team never managed to achieve a resounding result, almost being relegated from the Bundersliga and never taking more than 4th place in the Bundersliga. But Ballack still managed to play for the main team of the German national team. But the new season 2001/2002 was many times more successful for him than the previous one. However, the team failed to achieve championship titles in more than four tournaments. The head coach of the team was the former Kaiserslautern player, who once amazed with his results, scoring 108 goals in 204 games in the German Bundesliga, Klaus Toppmöhler. He managed to bring the team to wonderful results in a short time, the coach and team especially distinguished themselves during the Champions League, beating Juventus, Lyon, Deportivo, moving on, the team then beat Liverpool, thereby qualifying for the semi-finals, and , defeating Manchester United, ensuring their passage to the final, but, unfortunately, the team lost to Real Madrid.

CONTINUED BELOW

At the moment, Ballack is already playing for the English Chelsea, with whom he signed a contract quite recently. Married to the beautiful Simone, he has two children, the eldest 5-year-old Emilio and the youngest 4-year-old Louis.

Date of birth: 09/26/1976
Favorite number: 13
Home club: Chelsea
Height:189 cm
Weight: 80 kg.
Position: midfielder
Approximate cost: 30,000,000?

Michael Ballack is one of the best football players in the world. Despite his position as a midfielder, he is quite capable of scoring goals from long range. Ballack is so versatile that he can either sit deep and defend or create good scoring chances up front.

Football childhood and youth

Michael Ballack was born on September 26, 1976 in Görlitz, Germany. His father was a professional footballer, and obviously passed on his love of football to little Michael. His son’s zeal to play football was so high that at the age of 7 he was already training with FC Chemnitz. Michael was not lazy twice a week, spending two hours a day on the road to the training place.

Two months before his 19th birthday, Michael Ballack signed a professional contract with FC Chemnitz, and immediately joined the team. He made his debut in the first match of the season. He soon became one of the club's leading players. Having played 30 matches, Michael scored 10 goals. Not bad for a defensive player. The talented football player's play did not go unnoticed.

He was watched by Otto Rehhagel, who took Ballack to the Bundesliga. So, the German football player began training with Kaiserslautern. This happened in 1997. With Kaiserslautern, Ballack won the Bundesliga in 1998.

In the 1999 Champions League, Michael was a key player for his club. Kaiserslautern was stopped by Bayern in the quarterfinals. For the German club, Ballack played 55 matches in which he scored four goals.

Chief transfers Michael Ballack

In the same year, Michael moved to another German club - Bayer Leverkusen. This transfer cost the club 4.1 million euros. In 2000, Ballack helped the new club win silver in the Bundesliga. The 2001/02 season was one of the best in the footballer's career. He scored 25 goals. During his three years at Bayer, Michael played 107 matches and scored 38 goals. In 2002, UEFA recognized Ballack as the best midfielder.

In 2002, for 12.9 million euros, Ballack signed a contract with Bayern Munich. With this club he won the Bundesliga in 2003, 2005 and 2006, and the German Cup in the same seasons. He played 152 matches for Bayern and scored 58 goals.

In 2006, as a free agent, Ballack signed a contract with London's Chelsea and moved to live in England. He helped the club to second place in the Premier League in 2007 and 2008. Also won the FA Cup in 2007 and 2009. In the 2007/08 season, Ballack played few games due to injury. For Chelsea, Ballack scored 23 goals in 115 matches.

Playing in the national team and personal life

In addition to his brilliant club career, he also played excellently for the German national team. He performed at Euro 2000 and 2004. It was after Euro 2004 that he became captain of the national team. At the 2002 World Cup, Germany reached the final. Due to injury, Ballack did not play in the final against Brazil.

And who knows how this final would have ended for Germany if Michael had not been injured. In 2008, as captain, he led the team to second place at the European Championship. Ballack won the award as Germany's best footballer in 2002, 2003 and 2005. He played 93 matches for the national team and scored 41 goals.

Michael Ballack and his ex-wife Simone Lambe have three children - Luis (born August 16, 2001), Emilio (September 19, 2002), and Jordi (born March 17, 2005).

Michael Ballack announced his retirement from his football career on October 2, 2012, while playing for Bayer Leverkusen.