Schweinsteiger shows his support for Michael Ballack's farewell game

Ballack and Schweinsteiger were a terrific combination, both for Germany and Bayern Munich

German midfield maestro Bastian Schweinsteiger has come out in support of his former team-mate Michael Ballack’s beneficial game. Ballack, the former Nationalmannschaft captain, had been the face of his national team for over a decade. Even though his performances for Germany had been unforgettable and phenomenal, the current manager Joachim Loew and then stand-in captain Philipp Lahm had a fallout with him after his return from injury and he was unfairly shown the door, which unceremoniously ended his national career.

The DFB offered the veteran a reconciliatory offer of a match against Brazil as his farewell game, which Ballack angrily refused indicating that the friendly was already scheduled and was in no way arranged for him. Later, when Theo Zwanziger took over as the president of the DFB, he stated that he wished to see Ballack’s farewell match officially organised by the German FA, which also had the backing of former national coach and current Bayer Leverkusen sporting director Rudi Voeller. But such arrangements hit a roadblock in the form of the National manager Oliver Bierhoff, who stated that there weren’t any dates available to stage a farewell match and that Michael Ballack had retired long back and there were several legends who didn’t get any testimonial match when they hung  their boots up.

A heart broken Ballack finally came up with the idea of organising a farewell match on his own with the help of his former clubs Leverkusen and Chemnitz. He saw this as a platform to properly bid goodbye to millions of his fans worldover. It had been rumoured that  his former Chelsea mates Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole, his team mates at Leverkusen, Rene Adler and Andre Schurrle, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mesut Ozil have all been approached and in turn they have agreed to feature in the testimonial match to be held in June 2013. As soon as news broke out, Ballack informed that nothing had been finalised yet.

The recent development in this regard has been Schweinsteiger’s interview to Kicker magazine. Speaking in this context, he has said, “He’s one of the best players we ever had. Sadly, you always have it in the back of your mind that he never actually won any international titles.” A statement that reminds us that Ballack had been an eternal runner up all through his career as regards to international titles. Ballack had been a runner up in the Champions League with two different clubs (Leverkusen and Chelsea), came second best to Brazil in the 2002 Korea Japan World Cup and was a beaten finalist in Euro 2008.

“He doesn’t get the credit he deserves, unfortunately. He did a great deal for German football. I saw him recently in Munich and he asked me if I would be keen on playing in a benefit match. If he invited me, and my club allowed me to, then I would love to.” Schweinsteiger told Kicker Magazine.

Now that German vice-captain has taken the matter to the press, it has to counted that he feels disappointed to see his former captain and friend not getting an officially recognised match as his farewell game. Let’s hope the German legend gets an opportunity to ride in to the sunset in style.