It is very unfortunate that I learned today that Germany's team captain, Michael Ballack, will be unable to play in this year's World Cup due to an ankle injury. Playing in his last club match for Chelsea, Ballack was tackled by a Portsmouth player, which caused ligament damage in his right ankle. Ballack is expected to be out for at least 2 months. The worst part was that this was going to be Ballack's final World Cup; so much for the fairytale ending. Another sad exit for a great player, much like Oliver Kahn and Zinedine Zidane. Click on the link for the complete news story on Ballack's injury.
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/football/05/17/football.germany.ballack.injured/index.html?hpt=Sbin
Watch on youtube Ballack get tackled from behind after he already passed the ball to a teammate. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D03GuERTMYc&feature=related
The next big question is who will replace Ballack as Germany's captain. Names tossed around include Torsten Frings, Arne Friedrich, and Bastian Schweinsteiger. My vote would be for Schweinsteiger (or Schweini as my Aunt Edith likes to call him) because he has leadership qualities and can lift a team to victory with his goal scoring. Schweinsteiger had a hat-trick against Portugal in the 3rd place game during the 2006 World Cup. He will just need to quell his hot temper that has gotten him ejected from games in the past in order to hold the German squad together as they vie for the Cup in South Africa starting in June. Hopefully the German's will once again be on top of the soccer world. Click on the link for more about the captaincy.
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