Germany comeback? Ballack needs time to decide

Former Germany captain Michael Ballack is still undecided if he himself wants to return to the German national team or not. "I still need time and the rhythm to decide if I can make it or not," the 34 year old said yesterday on the sidelines of the FC Chelsea vs Manchester United UEFA Champions League match in London. Ballack was there as Sky Germany pundit.

Last month's planed meeting with Germany coach Joachim Loew had been postponed and it is now set to take place sometime this month. The key topic of discussion will be the future of Ballack in 'die Mannschaft'. After injury problems over the last few month's Ballack has recently gotten back into match rhythm and is also getting more playing time at Bayer 04 Leverkusen.

Coach Loew has not said anything in public if he wants his former 'Capitano' to return or rather retire, but it is known that he has been avoiding the topic since the successful 2010 FIFA World Cup and luckily time has been on his side with Ballack never really recovering from the pre-World Cup injury.

Ballack has played 98 times for Germany and there are suggestions if he decides to end his career that he will be given the captain's armband for one last time, on August 10 this year in an international friendly against Brazil in Stuttgart. It would be a fitting finale for a player who has been the torch-bearer of German football over the last decade, but sadly he has never been able to win anything on the continental or world stage.