Germany football star Michael Ballack will miss the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa due to an ankle injury. It is a devastating blow to the German national football psyche on the eve of the finals with less than a month to go to kick off in South Africa.

Ballack was due to star in Germany’s opening game in Durban against Australia and despite most observers’ feelings – that this is not one of the greatest Germany sides – there were still high hopes that Germany could achieve great things in South Africa with the midfield maestro Ballack pulling the strings in his playmaker role.

Ballack – who was instrumental in Chelsea’s Premier League and FA Cup final double this year in England – was in tremendous form, with the World Cup finals just a few weeks away.

Playing a more offensive role this year under Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti Ballack was able to show his world class status in a Chelsea shirt more consistently than ever before. Many feel he was often inhibited under the more defensive formations of previous Chelsea coaches he played for such as Jose Mourinho.

Germany captain Michael Ballack now needs eight weeks to recover from his ankle injury and will miss the World Cup 2010 finals after falling victim to a heavy tackle by Portsmouth player Kevin-Prince Boateng at Wembley Stadium in the English showcase FA Cup final.

X-rays later showed that no bones were broken but the extent of the damage is so great that the German Football Federation has confirmed the midfielder will miss the South Africa World Cup 2010 finals.

The German Football Federation, the DFB, has issued a statement on the Michael Ballack injury:

“National team captain Michael Ballack is out of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. This is the result of an MRI on Monday morning in Munich.

“A tear of the medial collateral ligament of the right ankle was found. The right ankle is immobilised in a plaster. He will have to wear a special shoe for two weeks.

“After the diagnosis of national team doctor Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt today, a complete healing of the injury is expected.

“Ballack’s return to training is possible at the earliest in eight weeks.”

Boateng has already received criticisms from Germany coach Joachim Low, who has lambasted Boateng’s tackle on Ballack.

“He had no chance of getting the ball and a foul like that can seriously injure a player,” Low has said.

Kevin-Prince Boateng, many have noted, will represent Ghana – an opponent of Germany in the group stage – at the FIFA World Cup finals this summer.

The Portsmouth midfielder has apologised to Michael Ballack for the challenge which ruled the Germany captain out of the FIFA World Cup.

Kevin-Prince Boateng told Germany’s Sport Bild magazine that he had already offered his apologies several times to Ballack.

“All I can do is apologise,” said Boateng.

“I was just too late and I hit him straight on. It looked stupid. I apologised to him twice on the field and now for a third time. I am sorry. It was not intentional.”

Ballack is understandably being reported as being incredibly upset by the injury which has effectively denied him the opportunity of lifting the World Cup trophy for Germany, a possibility which past results suggest was by no means impossible.

Ballack was in tremendous form during the 2008 European Championships and in Germany’s qualification for the World Cup in South Africa.

Ballack’s agent Michael Becker is reportedly considering legal action against Kevin-Prince Boateng.

In another twist, Boateng was born in Berlin to a Ghanaian father and a German mother and is also a distant relative to German football legend, Helmut Rahn.

As well as taking part in the World Cup finals for Ghana his half-brother is Germany international Jerome Boateng who is in the preliminary Germany squad for the finals.

The mood in Germany is not good but no doubt the team will pick itself up and it could even prove to be a motivating factor. The response in England has also been very sympathetic to Germany’s captain, Ballack, who has proved very popular since he signed for Chelsea in 2006.

England could meet their great rivals, Germany in the finals, and a German midfield without Michael Ballack would be weakened and many suspect would not fare too well against the likes of in form Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard.

Meanwhile for the neutral if will be fascinating to see how the Germany team will respond without their captain, one of the greatest midfield players in the world. Unsurprisingly the Germany coaching staff will no doubt use the tragic incident to motivate the team which includes many relatively inexperienced players at this level. Who knows? Can Germany compete without their best player, Michael Ballack?

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