German Fears Realized: No Ballack In Africa
Germany's worst fears have been realized, as it has been announced that their captain, Chelsea's Michael Ballack, will miss the World Cup in South Africa. Ballack was hurt in the FA cup final between Premier League Champions Chelsea and Portsmouth when a late tackle by Kevin-Prince Boateng caught his ankle.
A scan in Munich on Monday revealed torn ligaments in Ballack's right ankle - his medial collateral ligaments to be exact - putting him out of action for at least eight weeks. Ballack has already won 98 caps and scored 42 goals in his international career for Germany. This year would have been his fourth and probably last appearance in a World Cup.
Ballack feels that Boateng tried to hurt him intentionally and that referee Chris Foy should have shown him a red card instead of a yellow. Ballack, who was very worried about his injury said, “I have seen [the tackle] on TV and to say it was not on purpose means you have to be a friend of Boateng."
Boateng, a native of Germany, chose to play for Ghana in the World Cup, and with the two teams meeting in the group stages Boateng had been dubbed by the German Media as "Public Enemy No. 1". The new Ghanaian player has been accused of tackling Ballack to prevent him from meeting the Black Stars at the World Cup. The Portsmouth player has vehemently denied the allegation and apologized for the reckless tackle.
Boateng's tackle on Ballack did not look premeditated but it has emerged that the two had a bit of backstory going on. As the story goes, Boateng had just scored his first goal for Hertha (Berlin). Hertha's next match was against Bayern Munich (Ballack's squad) and Boateng got into an argument with Ballack. Ballack allegedly said to him, ‘You’ve scored one goal, and you think you are the best’. Those coming to Boateng's defense argue that his decision to play for Ghana instead of Germany is the reason that the German press is so critical of him.
While German Coach Joachim Loew was shocked and feels Ballack's absence was a 'severe blow' for the team's prospects, Ballack's agent threatened to sue Boateng for intentionally trying to injure the German captain. Ballack, who won the English Premier League title and the FA Cup with Chelsea this year, was angry but philosophical. “It’s football and you have to live with it,” he said.
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