Germany captain Michael Ballack has lost his battle to be fit for Friday’s World Cup opener against Costa Rica, manager Jurgen Klinsmann said on Thursday.
Ballack was forced to pull out of Wednesday’s training with his calf injury still troubling him and Klinsmann said his star midfielder would not be available in Munich.
”It seems that Michael Ballack cannot play against Costa Rica,” Klinsmann said at a press conference on Thursday.
”He only trained for 30 minutes on Wednesday and then had to pull out. We wanted Ballack on board as he is our captain and leader, but it is important that he recovers. We want him to get back to full fitness so that he can be fit for the other games in the competition.
”I do not think the opening game is as important as some of the other games that could come later on.”
Werder Bremen midfielder Tim Borowski and Borussia Dortmund’s Sebastian Kehl are expected to step in for Ballack against Costa Rica.
”We have different options with Borowski and Kehl. It is not a problem. We have 23 players in the squad and when one drops out there is a suitable replacement to step in,” Klinsmann added.
”The most important thing is to look in advance. Michael needs to be fit for the rest of this tournament.”
Ballack sustained the calf injury in last Friday’s 3-0 friendly win over Colombia and said he expected the problem to go away in a few days.
”I think Michael underestimated the injury. He thought it would go away by Monday and he was desperate to play in the World Cup opener,” Klinsmann said.
”He will travel with the team to Munich and receive round-the-clock treatment.
”He will need to work twice as hard as the other players to reach peak fitness. If players have one training session he will have to have two.”
Ballack, who recently signed for English champions Chelsea, has scored 31 goals in 65 games and is regarded as the one truly world-class player in the current Germany side. — Sapa-AFP