Michael Ballack came to the English Premier League as one of the absolute leaders for German soccer giants Bayern Munich. But the fans at Chelsea are still waiting for him to bring glory to the club.
Early Days in Former East Germany
The native of Görlitz was born on September 28, 1976 and grew up working his way through the former East German soccer system and early on in his career scored 57 goals in just 16 games. Ballack signed his first professional deal in 1995 for the second division side Chemnitz FC. The club dropped to the third division for the following season, during which the midfielder earned a starting position.
Big Break With Otto Rehhagel At Kaiserslautern
In 1997, Ballack would make his Bundesliga debut as legendary coach Otto Rehhagel brought in the 20-year-old for his Kaiserslautern side which had just returned to the top division after one season in the second division. Ballack played in 16 matches and helped Kaiserslautern become the first club in league history to win the Bundesliga title as a promoted side. The following season, Ballack scored four goals in 30 Bundesliga matches and became an integral part of the Kaiserslautern team which reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League
Next Move To Bayer Leverkusen
The summer of 1999 saw Ballack make his next step up in transferring to Bayer Leverkusen, where he was given the creative freedom in the midfield while also using his fine touch around the goal on dead ball situations. Ballack nearly grabbed another Bundesliga title in 2000 but he scored an unlucky own goal in a loss on the final day of the season to Unterhaching, against whom a draw would have been enough for the first league title in club history.
Two seasons later Ballack was close to etching his place in history by reaching the final of the 2002 Champions League. But Zinedine Zidane and Real Madrid were too much in a 2-1 victory in Glasgow. Ballack tallied 17 goals in the German Bundesliga and was honored with the Germany Player of the Year award in 2002.
Big Success With Bayern Munich
Ballack left Leverkusen after the 2002 World Cup in favor of German record champion Bayern Munich, with whom he won the Bundesliga title and German Cup in his first season. He would go on to match those two titles in two more seasons (2005 and 2006) while scoring 47 goals in 135 games over four seasons in Germany for Bayern.
Chelsea Came Calling
Bayern fans criticized Ballack in 2006 when he decided to take the big money from English side Chelsea, which he chose over offers from Manchester United, Real Madrid and AC Milan. In his first season at Stamford Bridge, Ballack helped Chelsea to the English FA Cup though he did not play in the final against Manchester United because of injury.
Ballack returned to the Champions League final the next season - 2007-08. Chelsea was facing Manchester United in an all-English final but ManU won 6-5 on penalties. And Manchester United also got the better of Chelsea in the Premiership, where Chelsea finished second.
Two World Cups For Germany
Ballack began his German national team career in April 1999 and only played 63 minutes during the Euro2000 in Belgium and Holland. But by the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, Ballack had become a leader and scored the goal to send Germany to the final against Brazil. But Ballack could only watch from the sidelines after being suspended for receiving a yellow card on a tactical foul to save a top goal chance against South Korea in the semifinal. Brazil won 2-0.
Ballack was named German captain at the Euro2004 but the team was bounced in the first round. Two years later, Ballack guided Germany to third place in the 2006 World Cup and was named to the tournament's All-Star team - a feat he would repeat at the Euro2008 where Germany lost to Spain 1-0 in the final.
