BERLIN: Fuming after being substituted on Saturday and left out of the Germany squad to face Italy, Michael Ballack must now wait until next month to discover whether he still has an international future.
Ballack made only his second start for Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday since a broken leg kept him out of football since September, but was replaced after 67 minutes in his team’s 1-0 German league defeat at 10-man Nuremberg.
He was visibly upset at Leverkusen coach Jupp Heynckes’ decision to replace him with Swiss striker Eren Derdiyok.
It looks increasingly as though Ballack is playing for his international place with whispers growing Germany coach Joachim Loew may no longer need his former captain.
On Friday, Loew opted to leave Ballack out of the 22-man squad to face the 2006 World Cup winners in Dortmund for Wednesday’s friendly.
Short of fitness, and with Germany having reached the semi-finals at last year’s World Cup without him, Loew has said he will discuss Ballack’s future with him before next month’s Euro 2012 qualifier with Kazakhstan.
Ballack suffered a fall from grace last year when Chelsea declined to extend his contract and he returned to the Bundesliga to sign for Leverkusen in July, but the 34-year-old needs to impress the national coach.
“We all know that Michael was still missing something after he played his first 90 minutes following a long injury,” Loew had told German daily Bild.
“He is still finding his rhythm and he has made a good impression. If everything runs accordingly, we will meet in the middle of March to look at what the next step is.”
Football-mad Germany was distraught at the loss of Ballack in May, but by the end of the World Cup in July, pundits were suggesting perhaps the injury was a blessing in disguise and questioning whether the ex-captain was needed.
Ballack has not played for Germany since the pre-World Cup 1-0 defeat to Argentina last March.
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