† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22:09, 3 March 2010 (UTC)Michael Ballack (born 26 September 1976) is a German Germany (pronounced /ˈdʒɜrməni/ ), officially the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland, pronounced [ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant] ( listen)), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south footballer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players using a spherical ball. It is widely considered to be the most popular sport in the world, who currently plays for Chelsea Chelsea Football Club are an English professional football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions three times, and have won the FA Cup five times, the League Cup four times and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and is the captain of the German national team The German national football team is the football team representing the country of Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association DFB (Deutscher Fußball-Bund) which was founded in 1900. He is among the top goal scorers in the history of his international team. Ballack has worn the number 13 shirt for every team he has played for except for Kaiserslautern. He was selected by Pelé Edison Arantes do Nascimento, KBE , best known by his nickname Pelé (Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: [peˈlɛ], usual English pronunciation: /ˈpɛleɪ/) is a retired Brazilian football player. While his birth certificate shows his first name as Edison, and he prefers to call himself Edson[citation needed], it is as Pelé that he has become a as one of FIFA's 100 Greatest Living Players, and as the UEFA Club Midfielder of the Year in 2002. He has won the German Footballer of the Year award three times - in 2002, 2003 and 2005.
Ballack began his career as a youth at Chemnitz, his local team, and made his professional debut in 1995. Although the team were relegated in his first season, his performances in the Regionalliga the following season led to a transfer to Kaiserslautern in 1997. He won the Bundesliga The Bundesliga is the highest level of Germany's football league system. The term Bundesliga also applies to football in Austria and is used to refer to the highest level league competitions in several other sports in the two countries 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 Germany. He moved to Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen is a German football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the most well-known department of TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen, a sports club whose members also participate in athletics, gymnastics, basketball and other sports for €4.1 million in 1999. The 2002 season saw him win a slew of runners-up medals: Bayer Leverkusen finished second in the Bundesliga, German Cup, UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League is an annual Association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It is the most prestigious club trophy in European football and Germany lost to Brazil The Brazil national football team is the national team of Brazil and is managed by the Brazilian Football Confederation that represents Brazil in international football competitions. They are the most successful national football team in the history of the World Cup, with five championships (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002). A common quip about in the 2002 World Cup Final.
A €12.9 million move to Bayern Munich FC Bayern Munich is a German sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional football team, which is the most successful club in German football, having won 21 German titles and 14 cups led to further honours: the team won the Bundesliga and German Cup double in 2003, 2005 and 2006. Ballack had become a prolific goalscorer from midfield, scoring 58 goals for Bayern Munich between 2002 and 2006. He joined Premier League side Chelsea in mid-2006 and won his first English honours, the FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football, run by and named after The Football Association. The name "FA Cup" usually refers to the English men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also held. Its current sponsored name is the FA Cup sponsored by E.ON and Football League Cup The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or Carling Cup, is an English football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis. Unlike the FA Cup where 762 teams entered in 2008–09 only 92 clubs can enter—the 20 clubs of the FA Premier League, and the 72 clubs of The Football League, which organises the, in his first season at the club. Injury ruled out much of 2007 but he returned the following season, helping Chelsea reach their first ever Champions League Final.
Internationally, Ballack has played in the European Championships The UEFA European Football Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA . Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current name in 1968. Specific championships are often in 2000, 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship was the twelfth tournament of the UEFA European Football Championship, a quadrennial football tournament for European nations, and was held in Portugal, for the first time, between 12 June and 4 July 2004. As in the previous two tournaments, in England and Netherlands/Belgium, sixteen teams contested and 2008, and the FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, occasionally called the Football World Cup, but usually referred to simply as the World Cup, is an international football competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years in 2002 The 2002 FIFA World Cup, the 17th staging of the World Cup, was held in South Korea and Japan from 31 May to 30 June. The two countries were chosen as hosts by FIFA in May 1996 and was the first tournament in its history to be hosted by two countries. It was also the first World Cup held in Asia. Brazil won the tournament for a record fifth time, and 2006 The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six populated continents participated in the. Jürgen Klinsmann Jürgen Klinsmann is a German football manager and former football player, who played for several prominent clubs in Europe and was part of the German team that won the 1990 FIFA World Cup and the 1996 UEFA European Championship. He was one of Germany's premier strikers during the 90s appointed him captain of the national team in 2004. He captained his country in the Euro 2008 Final but the team lost to Spain The Spanish national football team, commonly referred to as La Furia Roja, is the national football team of Spain and is controlled by the Real Federación Española de Fútbol. They are the current European Champions, having won the 2008 UEFA European Championship, a title they had previously won in 1964. In July 2008, Spain rose to the top of.
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