حمود السوري
7 - 11 - 2009, 08:31 AM
(born 26 September 1976) is a German (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany) football (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_football) midfielder (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midfielder) who plays for Chelsea (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_F.C.) of the English (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England) Premier League (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premier_League) and is the captain of the German national team (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany_national_football_team). He is among the top goal scorers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Germany_international_footballers) in the history of his international team. Ballack has worn the number 13 shirt for every team he has played for except for 1. FC Kaiserslautern (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1._FC_Kaiserslautern). He was selected as one of FIFA's 100 Greatest Living Players (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_100), and the UEFA Club Midfielder of the Year (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Club_Football_Awards#Best_Midfielder) in 2002. He has won the German Footballer of the Year (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Footballer_of_the_Year) award three times 2002, 2003 and 2005.
Ballack began his career as a youth at Chemnitzer FC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemnitzer_FC), his local team, and made his professional debut in 1995. Although the team were relegated in his first season, his performances in the Regionalliga (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fu%C3%9Fball-Regionalliga) the following season led to a transfer to Kaiserslautern (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1._FC_Kaiserslautern) in 1997. He won the Bundesliga (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fu%C3%9Fball-Bundesliga) in his first season at the club; his first major honour. He became a first team regular in 1998–99 season and also earned his first senior national cap for Germany. He moved to Bayer Leverkusen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayer_04_Leverkusen) for €4.1 million in 1999. The 2002 season saw him win a slew of runners-up medals: Bayer Leverkusen finished second in the Bundesliga, German Cup (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DFB-Pokal), UEFA Champions League (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Champions_League) and Germany lost to Brazil (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_national_football_team) in the 2002 World Cup Final (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_FIFA_World_Cup_Final).
A €12.9 million move to Bayern Munich (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FC_Bayern_Munich) led to further honours: the team won the Bundesliga and German Cup double (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Double) in 2003, 2005 and 2006. Ballack had become a prolific goalscorer from midfield, scoring 58 goals for Bayern Munich between 2002 and 2006. He joined Premier League side Chelsea in mid-2006 and won his first English honours, the FA Cup (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FA_Cup) and Football League Cup (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_League_Cup), in his first season at the club. Injury ruled out much of 2007 but he returned the following season, helping Chelsea reach their first ever Champions League Final (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_UEFA_Champions_League_Final).
Internationally, Ballack has played in the European Championships (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_European_Football_Championship) in 2000 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro_2000), 2004 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro_2004) and 2008 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro_2008), and the FIFA World Cup (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Cup) in 2002 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_FIFA_World_Cup) and 2006 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_FIFA_World_Cup). Jürgen Klinsmann (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%BCrgen_Klinsmann) appointed him captain of the national team in 2004. He captained his country in the Euro 2008 Final (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Euro_2008_Final) but the team lost to Spain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain_national_football_team).
Ballack began his career as a youth at Chemnitzer FC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemnitzer_FC), his local team, and made his professional debut in 1995. Although the team were relegated in his first season, his performances in the Regionalliga (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fu%C3%9Fball-Regionalliga) the following season led to a transfer to Kaiserslautern (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1._FC_Kaiserslautern) in 1997. He won the Bundesliga (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fu%C3%9Fball-Bundesliga) in his first season at the club; his first major honour. He became a first team regular in 1998–99 season and also earned his first senior national cap for Germany. He moved to Bayer Leverkusen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayer_04_Leverkusen) for €4.1 million in 1999. The 2002 season saw him win a slew of runners-up medals: Bayer Leverkusen finished second in the Bundesliga, German Cup (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DFB-Pokal), UEFA Champions League (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Champions_League) and Germany lost to Brazil (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_national_football_team) in the 2002 World Cup Final (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_FIFA_World_Cup_Final).
A €12.9 million move to Bayern Munich (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FC_Bayern_Munich) led to further honours: the team won the Bundesliga and German Cup double (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Double) in 2003, 2005 and 2006. Ballack had become a prolific goalscorer from midfield, scoring 58 goals for Bayern Munich between 2002 and 2006. He joined Premier League side Chelsea in mid-2006 and won his first English honours, the FA Cup (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FA_Cup) and Football League Cup (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_League_Cup), in his first season at the club. Injury ruled out much of 2007 but he returned the following season, helping Chelsea reach their first ever Champions League Final (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_UEFA_Champions_League_Final).
Internationally, Ballack has played in the European Championships (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_European_Football_Championship) in 2000 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro_2000), 2004 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro_2004) and 2008 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro_2008), and the FIFA World Cup (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Cup) in 2002 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_FIFA_World_Cup) and 2006 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_FIFA_World_Cup). Jürgen Klinsmann (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%BCrgen_Klinsmann) appointed him captain of the national team in 2004. He captained his country in the Euro 2008 Final (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Euro_2008_Final) but the team lost to Spain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain_national_football_team).