Ballack turns down farewell match offer

Yesterday coach Joachim Loew announced that Michael Ballack's international career in a Germany shirt is over. But Loew and the German FA (DFB) still want to offer their long-time captain a farewell match for all he has done for German football.

On August 10 Germany play a high profile international friendly against Brazil in Stuttgart and the German FA would like to use this match to give Michael Ballack a fitting farewell for all the services over the years for the German national teams. Ballack surely is the German player of the last decade, the only real star footballer the nation has had in all those years.

But according to the German sports agency SID Ballack has turned down the DFB offer to lead Germany for one last time to play his 99th international game for the country.

Former captains and German legends Franz Beckenbauer and Lothar Matthäus have called on Ballack to accept the DFB offer and leave the international stage with this final game. Both understand how difficult it is for Ballack to let go, but the new generation of German footballers have shown since the 2010 FIFA World Cup that Ballack isn't needed any longer as a leader on and off the pitch.

At Bayer 04 Leverkusen meanwhile they are happy that the indecision is finally over and everyone knows that it is over. That is what Director of Sports Rudi Voeller said in an interview and he hoped Ballack would now solely concentrate on Leverkusen to bring the club maximum success.