Michael Ballack to play his farewell match on June 5 in Leipzig
Former Germany captain Michael Ballack announced at a press conference that he will play his farewell match at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig on June 5, 2013.
The match will be played under the title ‘Ciao Capitano! Ein Abend mit Weltklasse’ meaning ‘Bye Captain! An evening of world class’!
Ballack has invited a number of stars with whom he has played in his career along with his ex-coaches with a surprise invitation to Germany coach Joachim Löw, who got rid of Ballack under, as what many said was inappropriate circumstances. He also invited Germany captain Philipp Lahm.
Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has already confirmed his participation as have ex-teammates Bastian Schweinsteiger and Andriy Shevchenko.
The former Germany ‘Capitano’ as he was fondly called, played 98 times for Germany before a horrific injury playing for Chelsea by Kevin Pricne Boateng in the English FA Cup final in May 2010, forcefully ended his international career just before the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Ballack who played for Chemnitzer FC, 1.Kaiserslautern, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, Chelsea before returning to Leverkusen; is best known to have led Germany through a difficult decade without real stars expect him but also as someone who couldn’t win an international title finishing runners-up at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and the 2008 European Championships for Germany, besides the 2002 and 2008 UEFA Champions League finals though he won the German Bundesliga and English Premier League titles for his club sides.