Michael Ballack Set For Six Weeks On The Sidelines

Veteran midfielder Michael Ballack is set to miss six weeks of action due to a fractured tibia after a knock he took during Bayer Leverkusen’s match against Hannover this weekend.

Michael Ballack had just recently recovered from a lengthy injury that sidelined him during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and would have been hoping on reaching top form once more to force himself back into the national setup. During a press conference before Germany’s first European Championship qualifiers, national team coach Joachim Loew announced that Michael Ballack would retain the captaincy as long as he could get himself fit and in form and force himself back into the side.

Unfortunately for Ballack, this latest injury could mean that he will miss Germany’s next set of European Championship qualifying matches which will take place during the first week of October. Many saw those matches as Ballack’s last chance to force himself back into the squad and make himself a vital part of the national setup once more. The problem for Ballack is that Joachim Loew has named Sami Khedira and Bastian Schweinsteiger as first choice in the center of midfield, so it’s all up to Ballack to prove his worth.

Ballack’s latest injury means he will almost surely miss out on Germany’s next round of qualifying matches, and his chances of breaking back into Joachim Loew’s squad before the European Championship tournament in 2012 could be shot. At 34 years old, Ballack will find it harder and harder to fight back to full fitness from even niggling, smaller injury problems, and it looks unlikely that he will be able to challenge Sami Khedira and Bastian Schweinsteiger for a starting place in Joachim Loew’s Germany squad.