Ballack will have to fight for his place, says Khedira

BRUSSELS: With Germany set to open their Euro 2012 qualifier campaign on Friday, captain Michael Ballack has been told he faces a fit to win back his midfield place by Real Madrid's Sami Khedira.

Ballack has been left out of the Germany squad for Friday's match against Belgium in Brussels and next Tuesday's other Group A qualifier against Azerbaijan in Cologne as he recovers from an ankle injury.

The knock kept him out of the World Cup and in his absence Khedira took his place in the heart of Germany's midfield, scoring the goal against  Uruguay which earned the Germans third place in South Africa.

His World Cup performances earned Khedira a 14-million-euro transfer from Stuttgart to Real Madrid and the 23-year-old says veteran Ballack will not just walk back into the national side at his expense.

"In his career, Michael Ballack has done much for German football and has produced several excellent performances at major tournaments," said Khedira.

"But with all due respect to him: that now may no longer matter.

"I know that I do not have to hide and bring to the national team my own style and, hopefully, success."

Since the World Cup, Khedira has taken over the role of leading Germany's defence in midfield and will not surrender his place without a fight.

"There are other excellent midfielders in Germany, not only Michael Ballack," said Khedira with Leverkusen's Simon Rolfes and Stuttgart's Christian Genter also on the fringes of the national squad.

"But anyway, I look only at myself. I was challenging for a place, went to the World Cup and returned as a regular national player," he said.

"And not out of luck, but because I have put in some good performances in South Africa." 

National coach Joachim Loew has said Bastian Schweinsteiger and Khedira form the backbone of his midfield as Germany look to qualify for Euro 2012 to be held in the Ukraine and Poland.

"At the moment, the defensive midfielders are Bastian and Sami, that is set," said the 50-year-old Loew.

Despite being criticised, along with Germany team-mate Mesut Ozil, for his lack of Spanish by Real coach Jose Mourinho since the pair's arrival in the Spanish capital, Khedira says he is working on his languages.

"I have been there now for two or three weeks. My English is so good that I can give and understand all tactical instructions 100 percent," he said.

"Sometimes I understand it, even in Spanish, but of course, I want to learn the language quickly.

"I am now taking private Spanish classes three times a week."

Khedira says he has adjusted to Real's style of play under Mourinho straight away, but is learning fast.

"It is a completely new style of football at Real and a very different philosophy," he said.

"Having played my style of football for 20 years, I can't just change it within three weeks, but I know I am on the right path."

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Euro 2012 Qualifier: Belgium 0-1 Germany - Clinical Miroslav Klose grabs victory

Germany kicked off their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign with a narrow 1-0 victory in Belgium.

The hosts looked lively at both ends of the pitch for much of the match, but Miroslav Klose's solitary strike early in the second half was enough for the Germans to take three points.

The visitors won the majority of possession and looked the brighter team in terms of passing speed and overall attacking synthesis, but their hosts arguably had the better opportunities in the first half. Following a mistake by Bastian Schweinsteiger, Romelu Lukaku forced a save from Manuel Neuer. Later, Marouane Fellaini nearly played the 17-year-old forward through on goal, but Lukaku was a hair offside.

Following the interval, the Germans' attack sharpened as Schweinsteiger lent his support up front, and not long after the central midfielder made goalkeeper Logan Bailly panic, Klose pounced on his opportunity to strike. Schweinsteiger won the ball off Daniel van Buyten deep in the attacking half before Thomas Mueller slipped a through ball to Klose, who finished coolly.

Later in the game, Germany nearly doubled their advantage after Philipp Lahm's superb run and cut-back to Mueller, but the young forward's shot was pushed just wide of the post. Belgium pressed forward in search of an equaliser and looked bright in spells, but struggled to create scoring opportunities and failed to earn a point.

The result puts Germany level on points with Turkey, who lead Group A following their 3-0 victory in Kazakhstan earlier in the day. Belgium are without points, but have a chance to catch up to Turkey when the two teams face off on Tuesday.

Löw keeps the peace for now by naming Ballack captain of Germany

Soccer can be a cruel game sometimes. You can be the undisputed main man for your country's team and do exceptionally well over two years in the World Cup qualification games. But if you then miss the tournament through no fault of your own, chances are someone else will usurp your place during your injury layoff. And they might keep it, too.

Germany manager Joachim Löw was certainly unwilling to make any special dispensation for a former hero this week, when he addressed his team ahead of the Euro 2012 qualification games against Belgium (on Friday) and Azerbaijan (next Tuesday).

Schalke 04's Manuel Neuer will remain his side's goalkeeper, Löw confirmed. "He played an outstanding World Cup. We were very happy with him," the 50-year-old coach told reporters. This was expected but nevertheless bad news for Rene Adler of Leverkusen, who had been quite brilliant in the German goal before breaking a rib in the run-up to the competition in South Africa.

Few issues have excited the public as much as the debate surrounding the No. 1 position in recent years. This time, however, it was merely a sideshow, completely overshadowed by what the German media have dubbed the "K question." Who will be Germany's Kapitän, the captain?

The answer that Löw gave on Wednesday was Michael Ballack, who did not play in South Africa because of an ankle injury. "After a personal meeting and open, faithful discussions [with Ballack], I have decided that Michael will keep the armband," the coach said. "Philipp Lahm, who filled the role so brilliantly during the World Cup, will remain the deputy captain."

This could be interpreted as a defeat for the fullback from Bayern Munich, who had openly -- and some say somewhat unwisely -- expressed a wish to stay in the job on the eve of the World Cup semifinal against Spain. But Löw's loyalty to Ballack comes with enough caveats to keep the soon-to-be 34-year-old Bayer Leverkusen player fretting about his international future.

"At the moment, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira are first choice in defensive midfield," Löw said. "I frankly told him that he's not ready yet and that the World Cup has created a new situation. But if Ballack comes back and finds his way into the team, he will be captain, too. If Ballack doesn't play, Lahm is captain."

That first "if" is a pretty big one. The former Chelsea player was not called up to the squad this week as he's still trying to regain his fitness. No one knows if he'll be in shape in time to play for the national team in the next round of matches in early October. And even he will be fit enough, Löw's words suggest that he would then still have to get past the favored duo of Schweinsteiger and Khedira. Ballack is but a theoretical captain, a skipper in absentia at the moment.

"A little bit Ballack, a little bit Lahm: Germany's new captain is Ballahm," the newspaper Bild commented sarcastically. It's tempting to deduce that Löw is playing for time with this strange compromise. Should Ballack fail to regain his form in the Bundesliga, he won't have to recall him to the squad -- and Lahm would stay in office by default.

Experienced players like strikers Miroslav Klose (Bayern) and Cacau (Stuttgart) have demanded more respect for Ballack in recent days; Löw's quasi-vow to keep the veteran should be seen in this light. It'll be interesting to find out whether Ballack himself can be placated with this neither-nor solution, however. Germany's best player of his generation has seen Löw get rid of his friend and trusted teammate Torsten Frings (Werder Bremen) in similar fashion before. Frings was slowly edged out of the team after the European championship in 2008, in the absence of a clear statement from the manager. Ballack implicitly accused Löw of dishonesty in the autumn of the same year in a newspaper interview that caused a huge rift. Ballack only apologized for criticizing the manager in public afterward, not for the substance of his allegations. In the player's camp, there are, understandably, worries that Löw could now settle the score by going down the Frings route.

Oliver Bierhoff, the general manager of the national team, has tried to downplay the issue. "The main focus will be on the match against Belgium this week," the 42-year-old Bierhoff told reporters this week. But the Lahm-vs.-Ballack debate does have a significance that goes well beyond the two players in question. It marks a possible watershed issue for the way in which football is talked and thought about in Germany.

Ballack, who has ruled the dressing room with typical alpha male bloody-mindedness in recent years, conforms to the traditional idea of a "leader on the pitch." German soccer used to idolize strong-willed bullies who could be trusted to take on "responsibility" when the going got tough. This anachronistic "leadership" principle still has influential backers. Former German captain and keeper Oliver Kahn, for example, told Munich's Abendzeitung that "there has to be one obvious, definitive boss" in a team.

Löw and his staff beg to differ. "The World Cup has shown that responsibility must be shared by many," Bierhoff said. "One single player can't do it anymore. We need many bosses." He added that the new generation of players was used to a "flat hierarchy." Lahm, a soft-spoken young man with impeccable manners, is not the boss of Schweinsteiger or Mesut Özil, in other words. He "leads" them no more than Carles Puyol leads Xavi or Lionel Messi at Barcelona.

A (long-term) "yes" to Lahm would enable German soccer to emancipate itself from one of the few remaining backward obsessions. The cruel irony is that Ballack would be the victim of this development. He spent a good part of his career arguing that a functioning collective was much more important than an all-powerful leader, before deciding that he better give the public what it wanted.

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Lahm accepts captaincy snub

Stand-in skipper Philipp Lahm has insisted he has no problem with Joachim Low's decision to retain Michael Ballack as permanent Germany captain.

Lahm was given the armband for the World Cup in South Africa after Ballack was ruled out with an ankle injury.

Ballack remains absent for Friday's opening Euro 2012 qualifier against Belgium but Low has made it clear he will keep the role when fit again.

Lahm, who will lead the side out in Brussels on Friday, stated during the World Cup that he would not surrender the captaincy unless asked to do so.

He maintains that he will respect Low's wishes, although his immediate focus is on making a strong start on the long road to Poland and Ukraine.

"You have to accept such decisions," said Lahm, who led Germany to third place in the South Africa finals.

"Now it is up to me to lead the team again in the next two games as captain.

"I am looking forward to it and I have the confidence of the players around me and I am looking forward to leading them."

Stand-in skipper Lahm brushes off captaincy snub

(AFP) – 14 hours ago

BRUSSELS — Stand-in Germany captain Philipp Lahm on Thursday denied he had any problems with coach Joachim Loew's decision to retain Michael Ballack as permanent skipper for the Euro 2012 campaign.

Ballack, 34 later this month, is out of Friday's Euro 2012 qualifier against Belgium in Brussels as he recovers from the ankle injury which ruled him out of the World Cup, but will captain Germany again when he returns.

In his absence, Lahm will take over where he left off in South Africa by captaining the side against the Belgians, but Loew has said Lahm will lose the skipper's armband once Ballack returns from injury.

"You have to accept such decisions," said Lahm, who led Germany to third at the World Cup, at the German team's hotel on the outskirts of Brussels.

"Now it is up to me to lead the team again in the next two games as captain.

"I am looking forward to it and I have the confidence of the players around me and I am looking forward to leading them."

Loew announced the decision on Wednesday to stick with Ballack as his captain, but until he recovers from injury, Lahm will captain the side with Bastian Schweinsteiger as his deputy.

The decision has not been greeted with universal praise in Germany with many football fans happy with Lahm's style of captaincy, while Ballack has clashed with both national team-mates and coaches on and off the pitch in the past.

Ballack is expected to return for October's qualifiers against Turkey and Kazakhstan when he could win his 100th cap for Germany having already won 98.

Having returned to Leverkusen and the Bundesliga this season after a four-year spell in the Premier League with Chelsea, Ballack's side were hammered 6-3 last Sunday by Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Ballack was substituted in the second-half and booed off the pitch by Leverkusen fans.

He was missing from training with Leverkusen on Thursday with a stomach infection.

Germany will face Azerbaijan in their second Euro 2012 qualifier in Cologne next Tuesday.

Loew demands win against Belgium

Joachim Loew © Action Images

02/09/2010, 05:33

Germany face Belgium on Friday with coach Joachim Loew expecting three points from their opening Euro 2012 qualifier as the Germans look to build on the momentum from the World Cup.

Loew's young squad finished third in South Africa and having finished as runnners-up at Euro 2008, when they lost in the final to Spain, they are favourites to win Group A in qualification.

Germany are without captain Michael Ballack, who has been dropped for the Brussels game and next Tuesday's qualifier against Kazhakstan in Cologne, as he works his way back from the ankle injury which kept him out of the World Cup.
Philipp Lahm will captain the side in Ballack's absence, but the team will be close to full strength at the Roi Baudouin Stadium, the only exceptions being injured defenders Arne Friedrich, Jerome Boateng and Dennis Aogo.

Loew says while his side earned plenty of praise for their World Cup performances, it is now time to put the experience gained in South Africa to good use.

"As nice as the praise for our performances at the World Cup was, a new chapter with interesting challenges is beginning," said Loew.

"Our goal must be to take six points from our first two games."

Germany are currently ranked fourth in the world, while Belgium are ranked 48th, behind Burkino Faso and Venezuela, and history is against the Belgiums.

No fewer than 14 matches have passed since Belgium's last win against a side representing Germany when they beat the former Federal Republic of Germany 2-0 in a friendly in Brussels in September 1954.

Under new coach Georges Leekens, who took over in May, Loew expects Belgium to give Germany a hard game at home.

Defensive midfielder Timmy Simons will be making his first appearance in a Belgium shirt for a year as Leekens looks to toughen up his side's midfield.

"He is a young warrior, the type that does everything he can to succeed," said Leekens of the 74-times capped, 33-year-old Nuremberg midfielder.

"I brought him back to bring some balance to the team."

Germany's all-star attack boasts names like Real Madrid's Mesut Ozil, Bayern Munich's Thomas Mueller and Bastian Schweinsteiger.

Bayern Munich centre-back Daniel van Buyten will be in the heart of the Belgian defence come Friday and admits his side will have their work cut out.

"We have a very talented young squad and really want to finally make it to a big tournament, to do this we need a good start," said the defender.

"Against Germany, it will be very tough, they are really strong."

Leekens's squad is under pressure to pick up points against Germany, but have several talented youngsters in their squad.

Teenage striker Romelu Lukaku, who is 17-year-old, has been chased by many top European clubs and Eden Hazard, 19, from French side Lille is also considered an exceptional talent.

Brugge striker Jelle Vossen is a talented forward while Fulham's Moussa Dembele and Everton's Marouane Fellaini bring some Premier League experience to the squad and will be led by Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen.

Belgium finished fourth at the 2008 Olympics, to give the country some hope, but Simons is aware of the challenge ahead.

"They will punish our mistakes hard, so it is important that we concentrate very hard, but I don't think victory is impossible for us," he said.

Ballack to stay Germany captain, Bild says

BERLIN — Germany coach Joachim Loew has decided that veteran Michael Ballack will remain his first-choice captain despite being left out of their first two Euro 2012 qualifying games, Bild reported Wednesday.
"At the moment we have Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira in defensive midfield," the newspaper quoted Loew as telling the team at a Frankfurt hotel on Tuesday evening.

"But when Michael comes back and makes it back into the team then he will also be captain. If Michael doesn't play then Philipp (Lahm) is captain," Loew is cited as telling the players.

Ballack, 33, has been dropped for the first two games against Belgium away on Friday and Azerbaijan at home four days later as he continues his recovery from the ankle injury that kept him out of the World Cup.
Bayern Munich defender Lahm, 26, captained Germany in their highly successful World Cup campaign in South Africa, sweeping aside England 4-1 and Argentina 4-0 before losing to eventual winners Spain in the semi-finals.

Ballack, who is now back in Germany playing for Bayer Leverkusen ever his contract at Chelsea expired at the end of last season, has something of a history clashing with other players, as well as with Loew.
Things have not got off to a flying start for Ballack's return to the Bundesliga, meanwhile. Bayer Leverkusen were beaten 6-3 by Moenchengladbach on Sunday -- and Ballack was booed off when he was replaced in the second-half.

Germany also face Turkey, Austria and Kazakhstan in Group A for a guaranteed place at Euro 2012, which will be hosted by Ukraine and Poland.

Loew was due to make an official announcement at a news conference on Wednesday at 1030 GMT.