Michael Ballack
Little Kaiser collects more silverware with Bayern
Ozren Podnar on Michael Ballack
Michael Ballack, known to German fans as "Little Kaiser",
serves a powerful cocktail of skill and strength in every game he
plays. He was the most responsible for the unfancied Germany's runner-up
spot at the last World Cup and is the ace the nation relies on for
the forthcoming Weltmeisterschaft (World Cup)on their home soil.
Even though he has played for Bayern since 2002, he was a hero
for the Bavarians when he was still at Leverkusen. In the last matchday
of the 1999/00 season, he brought an unexpected League title to
Bayern ... with an own-goal against modest Unterhaching.
The current leading German footballer was born on September 29th
of 1976 in Karl-Marx-Stadt in the former East Germany. Today the
city bears the old, pre-communist name of Chemnitz. He signed his
first professional contract with Chemnitzer in 1995, and in 1997
he moved to Kaiserslautern, just promoted after a year in the Second
Bundesliga.
In his first Bundesliga season, he already tasted the joy of winning
the championship, albeit mostly coming on from the bench. Next year
he played much more and even debuted in the national team, but his
relationship with the coach Otto
Rehhagel was steadily deteriorating, which speeded up his departure
for Bayer Leverkusen for 4.8 million euros.
Under the guidance of the controversial coach Christoph Daum,
Ballack flourished, and Daum called him the greatest prospect in
German football.
"The only thing he lacks is a bit more resistence in duels,"
said Daum. While Germany buzzed about the tall, elegant, goal-scoring
midfielder, Bayer spent most of the season on top and the very first
title looked like a reality. The last day of the title-race was
supposed to be the most famous in Bayer's history because the Pharmacists
needed only a draw at lowly Unterhaching to finish ahead of Bayern
Munich.
Tragic afternoon at Unterhaching
The person who saw to it that Leverkusen did not win the trophy
was Michael Ballack. Midway through the first half, he turned a
cross into his own net putting Unterhaching ahead. A nervous Bayer
never recovered from that shock and went on to lose 2-0, while Bayern
Munich easily thrashed Werder 3-1, winning the title on goals difference
and in the most amazing fashion.
The Germans were not so crazy as to write off such a talented
player as Ballack because of one unfortunate mistake so Balle kept
his place in the national team, while his influence at Bayer steadily
grew.
"He could become the greatest German player ever. I played
against Beckenbauer, Netzer and Overath, but Ballack is the most
complete," coach Klaus Toppmöller said of the midfielder.
Leverkusen's president Reiner Calmund gave him the nickname "Kleine
Kaiser" because of his elegant moves reminiscent of the original
"Kaiser" Franz Beckenbauer.
In 2001/02 Bayer played the best football in their history and
a month before the end of the season their fans had the most wonderful
dreams. Bayer had eliminated Liverpool and Manchester United in
the Champions League, having also reached the domestic Cup final
and holding a five-point advantage on top of the Bundesliga. Bayer's
angel was Michael Ballack, making good of the predictions that had
singled him out as the leading German player of the new millennium.
The team only had to clench their teeth in the final weeks and
round-up the season with a trophy or two; after all, Bayer had only
won a UEFA Cup in 1988 and a German Cup in 1993, and nothing else.
But, all that Toppmöller had built until then, all goals, assists
and balls won by Michael Ballack were reduced to ashes. In the Bundesliga,
Bayer lost to Werder at home and to Nürnberg away, handing
the title over to Borussia Dortmund; in the Champions League, they
lost to Real Madrid and that marvellous Zinedine Zidane's volley
at Hampden Park, only to complete their misery with a resounding
defeat to Schalke in the domestic Cup finals. The rivals' fans and
the media responded by renaming Leverkusen as "Neverkusen".
On to FC Hollywood
Ballack comforted himself with a major prize - a 12.9 million
euro transfer to Bayern. Before actually joining the Bavarian "FC
Hollywood", Ballack, with a little help from Oliver Kahn, took
an insipid Germany to the World Cup finals. He missed out on the
final match against Brazil because of a third yellow card, but not
before scoring three goals on the way, including the deciders against
the USA in the quarterfinals and South Korea in the semis.
The media had it clear: Ballack was the best German player of
2002, women's magazines voted him the most handsome footballer,
and his popularity was reflected by the leading daily Bild
putting him on the cover twice in the space of a week.
"Everybody loves Ballack, especially women," it said
on one of the covers. The women don't seem to mind the fact that
their favourite has three sons with Sabine, his girlfriend of six
years.
Once in Bayern, trophies finally started flowing Ballack's way.
He immediately imposed himself as Bayern's central player, an intelligent
offensive midfielder with a deft touch of the ball and a terrifying
long distance shot. His extraordinary physique allows him to cover
an enormous amount of ground, tackle opponents in midfield and moments
later score from close range in the mould of a centreforward. Ten
months after the World Cup, he celebrated the League and the Cup
double, earning himself the man-of-the-match award in the Cup finals
against Kaiserslautern, by scoring the first two goals and making
the third for Claudio Pizarro.
A triumphant 2003 ended with another Player of the Year award.
What had seemed so difficult at Leverkusen, has turned out so easy
at Bayern.
The current season has been almost as good for Ballack and his
team, as Bayern strolled to yet another League title and the Cup
finals with archrivals Schalke. Even though he could not inspire
a woeful Germany to any degree of success at Euro
2004 in Portugal, he was still the best performer of Rudi Völler's
side that placed only above Latvia in the group stage. While Germans
place the most hopes in him at next year's World Cup, his teammates
at Bayern plead with the directors not to transfer him at any price.
"Bayern should never sell Ballack," said keeper Oli
Kahn. "Even if he plays a game or two below par, they must
convince him that the club's future is based on him."
Michael Ballack Fact file
Name: Michael Ballack
Nicknames: Balle, Kleine Kaiser
Birthdate: 26th September 1976
Birthplace: Gorlitz
Height and weight: 189 cm, 80 kg
Position: central or attacking midfielder
Club: Bayern Munich
Marital status: girlfriend Simone, sons Louis, Emilio and
Jordi
Career (appearances and goals)
1994/95 BSG Motor -
1995/96 Chemnitzer 15 - 0
1996/97 Chemnitzer 34 - 10
1997/98 Kaiserslautern 16 - 0
1998/99 Kaiserslautern 30 - 4
1999/00 Bayer Leverkusen 23 - 3
2000/01 Bayer Leverkusen 27 - 7
2001/02 Bayer Leverkusen 29 - 17
2002/03 Bayern 26 - 10
2003/04 Bayern 28 - 7
2004/05 Bayern 26 - 12
1999-05 Germany 51 - 22
Trophies and awards
German championships: 1998, 2003 and 2005.
German Cup: 2003
World Cup runner-up: 2002
German player of the year: 2002, 2003
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