Michael Ballack - International Career

International Career

On 26 March 1996, Ballack debuted for the national U21 team against Denmark, shortly after signing for Chemnitz. In all, he played 19 matches for this side, scoring four goals. Then, following his move to Kaiserslautern, national coach Berti Vogts called him up to the senior team.

Ballack's first appearance, however, did not come until 28 April 1999, when he came on as a substitute for Dietmar Hamann in a match against Scotland.

Ballack only played 63 minutes at UEFA Euro 2000. In the 2002 FIFA World Cup, he scored in matches against the United States and South Korea during the knockout rounds as Germany reached the final. However, he was booked for a tactical foul during the semi-final match against South Korea and was suspended for the final, which Germany went on to lose 2–0 to Brazil. He was included in the World Cup All Star Team.

Following UEFA Euro 2004, Jürgen Klinsmann replaced Rudi Völler at the helm of the national team and Ballack took over from Oliver Kahn as captain.

In the 2006 FIFA World Cup, he was unable to start in Germany's first game against Costa Rica due to a calf strain, but appeared in the following five matches. Germany was eliminated in the semi-finals, but they managed to clinch 3rd place in a match against Portugal. He was named Man of the Match in the games against Ecuador and Argentina, and was included in FIFA's World Cup All Star Team for a second consecutive time. After the tournmanent, Klinsmann stood down as national team head coach and was succeeded by assistant Joachim Löw.

Ballack started and captained Germany in their first game of the UEFA Euro 2008 championship against Poland. He proved to be an influential figure in the midfield as Germany came back from a shock defeat to Croatia to make it to the final, scoring a free kick against Austria to secure Germany a 1–0 win and a place in the quarter-finals. In the quarter-finals, he scored a controversial header against Portugal to make the score 3–1 in their 3–2 win after an assist by Bastian Schweinsteiger's 60th minute free kick, helping Germany to advance to the semi-finals. Germany went on to beat Turkey 3–2 in the semifinals. Prior to the final, Ballack sustained a calf injury but eventually overcame it in time. However, Germany ended up losing 1–0 to Spain. Nevertheless, he was named in the Team of the Tournament.

Between June 2005 and Ballack's retirement, Germany never lost a game when Ballack scored. He scored 4 goals in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers. However, he missed the 2010 FIFA World Cup following a foul by Kevin-Prince Boateng in the FA Cup Final that caused an ankle injury. Boateng is a former Germany U21 player and half-brother of current German international Jérôme Boateng. Kevin-Prince Boateng went on to play for Ghana against the German team in the World Cup group stages. Ballack did travel to South Africa to provide moral support for the national team but he departed after Philipp Lahm, who was appointed team captain due to Ballack's injury, commented after the quarter-finals that he would not relinquish the captaincy back to Ballack. Team manager Oliver Bierhoff criticized Lahm's comments and clarified the situation saying "Philipp Lahm is the World Cup captain and Michael Ballack is still the captain". Germany played strongly in the tournament despite Ballack's absence, including a 4–1 win over England and a 4–0 win over Argentina en route to finishing third, thanks to emerging midfield talents such as Sami Khedira, Mesut Özil and Thomas Müller.

It has been reported that Germany coach Joachim Löw was waiting for Ballack to retire from international football after the 2010 World Cup, however Ballack refused to give up despite a rash on injuries suffered in 2010–11. On 16 June 2011, it was announced that Ballack will no longer be a part of the national team. The DFB offered him two friendlies to reach 100 matches for Germany, which he refused, accusing Löw of disrespecting him ever since his injury dating back to March 2010 and calling the invitation to compete in another two games for Germany a "farce".