Auf Wiedersehen Michael Ballack: You'll always be remembered

After his inspired performance in the World Cup a lot of clubs came calling but Ballack decided to stay put in Germany and signed for the Bavaraian giants. He spent 4 seasons at Bayern Munich out of which they won the ‘double’ of Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal an astonishing 3 times. He then moved to Chelsea on a free transfer in 2006 and spent 4 seasons at the club, where he added 3 more F.A. Cups to his list of trophies.

Michael Ballack was handed the captain’s armband after Oliver Kahn gave up the captaincy and captained the team to the 2006 World Cup where Germany finished 3rd. Michael Ballack was named as the man of the match twice in that tournament. Subsequently, he was also included in the FIFA World Cup All Star Team for the second time running. In the 2008 Euros, Germany again came up short as they lost 1-0 to Spain in the final. Ballack was yet again included in the Team of the Tournament.

At the end of 2010 he moved back to Bayer Leverkeusen where he spent two seasons, riddled by injuries, he finally called time on a marvelous career in which he won a total of 11 trophies with 4 different clubs. Notably, Ballack ended on the losing side in the Cup finals, an astonishing 11 times in his entire career for both club and country.

His career has been a story of near misses. He almost single-handedly won his team the World Cup in 2002 only to be undone by a suspension that prevented him from playing in the final. He almost again carried his team to the finals of the World Cup at home in 2006 only to be undone by two late goals in the extra time by the Italians. He almost won his second consecutive Bundesliga title only to be undone by an accidental own goal that he himself scored. In 2001, he almost won Leverkeusen the ‘Treble’, but came short in all the cup finals. In 2007, he again almost won the ‘Treble’ with Chelsea. But like always, fate intervened and they lost in the finals of all the competitions.

The 2010 World Cup was supposed to be his last, but Ballack was again, yet again in his career undone by an injury that he sustained in the final of the FA Cup and subsequently missed out on the World Cup squad. Lastly, he almost ended up notching 100 caps for his country but fell short due to a feud with the Germany coach Joachim Low. He felt misled by Low and called DFB’s invitation to complete 100 games a ‘farce’.

He said “The style and content of his [Low's] statement are unfortunately exactly the way he has treated me since my serious injury last summer.” Ballack said. “To call a friendly match that was arranged long ago a farewell match is a farce in my opinion. I know I owe my fans this match but I cannot accept his offer”.

The truth is he didn’t want to be pitied. He was a fighter and like all his battles, he wanted to earn these caps on his own, through his performances, and not through compassion. For all that Michael Ballack has done in his career, he deserved more. Hardly has the world in his time, seen a player with such steely determination (with the exception of former Irish midfielder Roy Keane) who would just not give up, no matter what the situation is.

Ballack was very highly rated in his homeland right from the time he made his debut as an 18 year old for the ‘Sky Blues’. He was dubbed as “Little Kaiser” in reference to Franz Beckenbauer, who was nicknamed “Der Kaiser”. The fact that he was named in the FIFA World Cup team as well as UEFA Euro team in all the editions he has ever played with the exception of 2000 Euro’s where he played for 63 minutes tell us mounds about him and the fact that he did justice to the title “Little Kaiser”.

Note: Ronaldinho & Kaka in their respective careers have played as forwards.

He was easily one of the best midfielders and captains of his generation if not the best. Except the niggling injuries that troubled him later, in his career he was almost untouchable. And he was a monster in the DFB shirt. His goals to game ratio is better than any other midfielder of his era.

Goals are definitely not a yardstick to measure a player’s talent and worth to a team. But if it was the case Ballack would be the greatest midfielder of his generation. It is sad that whenever any list of such kind is discussed Ballack’s name lies way down in the list. The Zidane’s or the Scholes’ or Gerrard’s or even the Lampard’s are ranked ahead of him. Michael Ballack was a complete player. He was dynamic in his approach, two footed, quick witted, a strong tackler, powerful in the air, deadly in front of goal and an inspirational leader and possessed the best goalscoring record for a midfielder.

Michael Ballack adorned a football jersey for one last time during his farewell match in which he invited friends and old teammates to play. The match ended 4-3 with Ballack scoring a hat-trick thus bringing the curtains down on his glorious career.

Well, all stories don’t have a happy ending. Life sure at times can be cruel to you and deprive you of what you deserve. But sometimes, some stories are better left unfinished in hopes that a better tomorrow awaits. Trophies are overrated. Performances are the real expressions of a players ability and that’s how Michael Ballack should be remembered. For what he gave to the game, and not for what he got in return. ‘Auf Wiedersehen, Der Kapiten’, you will always be remembered for the way you played the game.