Michael Ballack
Michael Ballack
Michael Ballackis a retired German footballer. He is among the top goal scorers in the history of the German national team. Ballack wore the number 13 shirt for every team he has played for except for Kaiserslautern. He was selected by Pelé as one of FIFA's 125 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...
ProfessionSoccer Player
Date of Birth26 September 1976
CityGorlitz, Germany
club inform next november playing
I told them that I would inform the club at the end of November where I would be playing next season.
compact game normal shooting strength win
It's not so important if I get into a shooting position. Our strength is the defense, that's where we have to win balls. We have to play our normal game, be very compact in midfield. That's our game and that's what we do best.
clubs dream foreign mine pressure staying talk time
Foreign clubs can't talk to me before then. It's been a dream of mine to play abroad. But staying in Bayern is also possible. I don't want to put myself under any time pressure and I didn't want any deadlines.
decision
Then there was the decision about transferring to Bayern,
decisive game mood
It's a very important game for us. It's a decisive game for our confidence, for the mood in the team.
anyone good nor spoke spoken
I spoke with Bayern and it was a good discussion. That is where things stand. I haven't spoken with anyone else, nor do I want to.
limits germany aggressive
We have to be very aggressive, to go to the limit of what's legal.
soccer team play
But at [soccer] tournaments you tend to see novel, unanticipated trends coming through, with everyone watching each other like hawks and immediately copying anything new. What is really important for every team is to be aware of its own capabilities and find a style which plays to one's own strengths.
games leader colleagues
A leader on the pitch is someone who can turn a game in the right direction, he isn't someone who has a go at his colleagues after the match for everything they did wrong.
behind crowd fans forward great looking supported weaker
The crowd was unbelievable, they even supported us in our weaker phases. With such great fans behind us we are all looking forward to this World Cup.
champions crowd frustrated german naturally step stood took toward wall
The crowd naturally was frustrated when it was 0-0. They stood like a wall back there. But we want to be German champions and we took a step toward that today.