Profile: Michael Ballack

Michael Ballack of German origin is one of the top midfielders of the game. He was born on September 26, 1976 at Görlitz, Germany.

On the field he is seen as a soft player but his style is like an assassin that comes out of nowhere delivering the powerful killer blow against even the best goaltenders in the game.

In the field he is merciless; both in creating attacks and brilliant execution of his defensive tackles. He is flexible and can perform well in any position on the midfield; however when placed on the flanks expect the deadliest Ballack attacking the opponent.

He started his professional soccer experience at the age of 20 with Kaiserslautern. In 1999 he transferred to Bayer 04 Leverkusen because of his differences with coach Otto Rehhagel. It was during his time at Leverkusen that propelled him high above the radar of the soccer world; he made 17 club goals in the Champions League finishing second after losing to Real Madrid. With that performance, he won the German Player of the Year title. He again won the same award after helping FC Bayern München took the league title.

His superior play continued to help his team win. He scored three goals against Ukraine in the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifications that sealed the second place finish for England. He then scored three goals during the World Cup that brought them to the finals. He could have scored more and might have changed the outcome if he was able to play against Brazil; unfortunately the yellow card he was slapped with in the semi-finals denied him of that chance.

With his accomplishments, the media loved him, resulting in winning Germany’s Sexiest Footballer in 2002 award.

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