Icons: Michael Ballack

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It's time to have another look at an icon from the history of football.

This time it's Michael Ballack. A former German midfielder who played at the highest level of the game. 

Michael Ballack

A summary

Ballack is among the top goal scorers in the history of the German national team. During his career, he won the German Footballer of the Year award three times. The midfielder was known for his passing range, powerful shot, physical strength and commanding presence in midfield.

The one negative from his career was that he never won the Champions League. He did pick up two runner-up medals in 2002 with Leverkusen and 2008 with Chelsea. 

The start of his career

Ballack's career started to take off when he was transferred to 1. FC Kaiserslautern in 1997. He won the Bundesliga in his first season at the club, his first major honour. He became a first team regular in 1998–99 season and also earned his first senior national cap for the German national side. He moved to Bayer Leverkusen for €4.1 million in 1999. 

The 2001–02 season saw him win a number of runners-up medals: Bayer Leverkusen finished second in the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, UEFA Champions League and Germany lost to Brazil in the 2002 World Cup Final.

Move to Bayern and success 

A €12.9 million move to Bayern Munich led to further honours: the team won the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal double in 2003, 2005 and 2006. Ballack had become a prolific goalscorer from midfield, scoring 58 goals for Bayern between 2002 and 2006. 

Transfer to Chelsea

He joined Chelsea in mid-2006 and won English honours in his first season at the club. Injury ruled him out of much of 2007, but he returned the following season to help Chelsea reach their first ever Champions League final. He also went on to win the FA Cup again in 2009 and then once more as part of a league and cup double in 2010.

The video above shows some of those memorable moments that Ballack had in a Chelsea shirt. Like the time at Bayern, his one regret was probably not winning the Champions League. 

Return to Leverkusen and retirement

He returned to former club Bayer Leverkusen at the start of the 2010/2011 season. During the final period of his career, he scored five goals in 45 appearances. 

International career

Ballack played in the UEFA European Football Championship in 2000, 2004 and 2008, and the FIFA World Cup in 2002 and 2006. Jürgen Klinsmann appointed him captain of the national team in 2004. 

Some of the his highlights for the international side, Ballack scored consecutive game-winning goals in the quarter-final and semi-final to help his country to the final of the World Cup final. He also led his team to the semi-finals of the 2006 World Cup and the final of Euro 2008.

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