Michael Ballack, an international footballer, was born on September 26, 1976 in Görlitz, Germany. Michael Ballack is married to Simone Lambe and they have three children namely, Louis, Emilio and Jordi. On March 26, 1996, he debuted for German under-21(U-21) national squad against Denmark and had played 19 matches for his national side. Later Berti Vogts, the German national coach, called Michael Ballack into the senior team where he first appeared in a match against Scotland on April 28, 1999. In 2002 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup, he scored in knock-out rounds against USA and South Korea and Germany went on to reach the final.
Michael Ballack was made captain of the German national team in 2004 by coach, Jürgen Klinsmann. He was named Soccer Digest World Player of the Year 2002 and was titled German Footballer of the Year in the year 2002, 2003 and 2005. In 2006 FIFA World Cup, Michael Ballack captained the team and took it to the semi-finals. In matches against Ecuador and Argentina, he was named Man of the Match and he was included in the FIFA’s World Cup All Star Team.
Michael Ballack captained the German national squad in Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Euro 2008 where he scored a goal against Austria to win the match 1-0 securing a place for his team in the quarter-finals. He went on to score in quarter-finals against Portugal at the 60th minute to win the match 3-2. His name is in the list of FIFA’s 100 Greatest Living Players. He is nicknamed “Little Kaiser” in reference to Franz Beckenbauer, a German legendary footballer who is the only one on earth to win two world cups both as a player and as a manager.
Michael Ballack was sent to BSG Motor Karl-Marx-Stadt by his parents to train football at the age of seven. He quickly became skilled in using both feet with same confidence, which earned him a place in FC Karl-Marx-Stadt, later renamed as Chemnitz in 1990. Michael Ballack signed his professional contract with the team in 1995 where he made his debut for it on August 4, 1995. He became a regular first team member for Chimnitz wherein 1997 FC Kaiserslauten signed him. FC Kaiserslauten, in that season, became the first ever newly promoted team to win the Bundesliga title. In July, 1999 he moved to Bayer Leverkusen for €4.1 million and his team won the UEFA Champions League in 2002. Later the same year, Michael Ballack was transferred to Bayern Munich for €12.9 million and the club went on to win both Bundesliga title and the German Cup in 2003, 2005 and 2006.
Later in July, 2006 Michael Ballack signed for Chelsea Football Club and made premiership debut on August 27, 2006 against Blackburn Rovers FC. Michael Ballack captained Chelsea on December 29, in the absence of John Terry and Frank Lampard in a game against Newcastle United and won the match 2-1. He scored the winning goals against Fulham, and Reading and on April 26, 2008, he scored a header and a penalty to give Chelsea a 2-1 win over Manchester United.
Apart from playing football, he loves travelling, playing tennis and golf, watching movies and listening to music.
