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But being surrounded by geniuses doesn’t make Ballack any less of one.In fact, silly as it might sound, he might just have been the best of the lot.
They have three children, Louis, 6, Emilio, 5 and Jordi, 3. The nearly-man with a bulging medal drawer.You sense that Ballack knows it, too. Four seasons at the club known as Hollywood FC brought the inevitable slew of honours.But you always sense that with Bayern, a club whose MO is to cherry-pick their rivals’ standout players each summer, success comes with certain caveats. He was imperious for Bayern, averaging almost a goal every other game across four years and winning the country’s player of the year award twice.He said he felt unstoppable in every game. Perhaps, but for an unfortunate own goal by Ballack himself, Leverkusen would have won the title in 2000 and they reached the Champions League final in 2002, when they were beaten by Real Madrid.Ballack moved on to Bayern Munich in the summer of 2002 and although he moved into a more defensive role, he was still influential as the Bavarians powered to the Bundesliga and cup double. This material may not be published, broadcast, re-written, re-distributed or commercially exploited.
""You only have problems in getting two bad players to work together and interact. The perfect blend of grizzled experience and youthful exuberance. View the profiles of people named Jordi Ballack.
He did so well enough, often playing in a deep-lying position or off one of the flanks in a midfield diamond, and to good effect.But this was not the gloriously unshackled Ballack who had been such a force of nature in Germany. Tragic afternoon at Unterhaching The person who saw to it that Leverkusen did not win the trophy was Michael Ballack. He is not married but lives with long-term girlfriend Simeone, with whom he has three children, Louis, Emilio and Jordi. “The problem was that we were missing two or three more Ballacks.”In 2010, though, everything was in place for a now 30-year-old Ballack to lead Germany’s emerging generation of dazzling youngsters – Ozil, Muller et al – on the world stage. The 2001–02 season was a disappointing one for Bayer Leverkusen. All Ballack had to do was get through the FA Cup final without injury.Enter Kevin-Prince Boateng.
Michael Ballack Biography.
"In the end Ballack will go down as a player defined by a curious clutch of paradoxes: the midfield stroller who provided unstoppable driving force; the serial winner remembered for his heroic failures.
Ballack won three doubles in four years. A vicious foul from the Ghanaian – petty vengeance after an earlier flare-up – left the Germany skipper in a crumpled heap on the Wembley turf, fists beating the floor in pain, ankle ligaments shredded. Ballack is certainly a ladies' favourite and was voted Germany's sexiest footballer in a poll in 2002. Michael Ballack is a former German national team midfielder and one of the most revered names in the game to come from the country. It's just painful. He is not married but lives with long-term girlfriend Simeone, with whom he has three children, Louis, Emilio and Jordi. "— Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger reacts to West Ham manager Alan Pardew's criticism of his squad having just one British player in it for the Champions League second leg match against Real Madrid. Having been at the heart of a team that cantered to titles, now, just like his debut season at Chemnitzer, he was now a peripheral figure in a team that had to fight for them.As well as his personal odysseys, Ballack had the broader misfortune to be a great central midfielder in an era littered with them.Ballack’s peak years coincided exactly with those of Scholes, Gerrard, Xavi, Makelele and Lampard, along with the venerable later years of Keane, Vieira and Zidane. "It's really disappointing for two reasons. Bayern Munich have a sponsorship arrangement with Audi and like team-mate Oliver Kahn, Ballack drives a complimentary RS6 Plus Avant 4.2 quattro, the most powerful car the manufacturer produces.Position: Midfielder Club: Bayern Munich DOB: September 29, 1976 Germany Caps: 62 Germany Goals: 29 Germany Debut: v Scotland, April 1999Ballack capped his first season at Bayern, 2002-03, with an outstanding two-goal performance in the German Cup final win over former club Kaiserslautern. Without their talisman, an uninspired Germany lost the final 2-0.Four years later, this time on home turf, Germany would depart the World Cup by the same scoreline, going down in extra time in a knife-edge epic against Italy, one of the great heavyweight matches of the modern age.Ballack’s selection in the team of the tournament for the second successive time did little to sweeten another bitter pill.Thoughts, and hopes, turned to 2010. As much as it is a story of rampant success – and it is – it’s also a story of wretched disappointment.Not that it started that way: in fact, Ballack’s first taste of top-level football was a bona fide footballing fairytale. With his Bayern contract due to expire, his services are in high demand and, not surprisingly, billionaire-backed English champions Chelsea appear to be heading the queue to sign him.Ballack's talent became obvious in childhood and by the age of seven he was passing with both feet and showing the skills of a boy much older.