BALLACK AND GERMANY BID FAREWELL
Michael Ballack’s international career looks to be over after the 34-year-old midfielder was left out of the Germany squad for the Euro 2012 qualifiers against Austria and Azerbaijan.
Ballack has not played for Germany since March 2010. An injury while playing for Chelsea meant he missed the successful World Cup campaign in South Africa. The Germany manager, Joachim Low, said that Ballack cut short a visit to the World Cup training camp because “he no longer felt part of the team”.
The midfielder, who played a central role in Germany’s passage to the 2002 World Cup final and the 2008 European Championship final, has not been able to remain injury free since moving to Bayer Leverkusen. However, he did help Leverkusen finish second in the Bundesliga and qualify for the Champions League.
Low said he had not ruled out inviting Ballack to play in a farewell friendly against Brazil – who were Germany’s opponents in the 2002 World Cup final. “His achievements deserve some sort of recognition because of the contribution Michael has made to German football,” Low said.
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