Michael Ballack is now an official injury worry for Germany as he is has been declared out for an unspecified amount of time following an ankle injury after Kevin Prince Boateng's rather nasty tackle on him in today's FA Cup final. Ballack had to be substituted because he was unable to play through the pain.
There is less than a month left before the start of the World Cup, so this is high anxiety for Joachim Low.
In a Machiavellian twist, Boateng will most likely be in the Ghana squad should FIFA accept his change in national allegiance from Germany to Ghana, the country of his origin. Ghana meet Germany on June 23rdf in a group encounter. In fact, the inflicted injury to Ballack is Boateng's perfect initiation into the Black Stars.
There is a context to the Ballack incident as three minutes before the German captain and Chelsea midfielder had slapped Boateng in the face. An event that Chris Foy, the referee completely missed or chose to ignore. Boateng exacted his revenge with just a yellow card to show although it could be argued his real punishment came later, missing that penalty which could have put Pompey ahead.
Whatever the spin, the Ghana vs Germany game assumes an edge and if Ballack and Boateng are on the pitch there might be extra mustard on those tackles.
am a chelsea fan and a ghanaian. Boateng welcome to black stars.Ballack has done more than that.am not saying what he did wa right bt regardless i support my country and not germany.this is not english league its world cup
I feel the same way. Ballack has his thuggish moments on the field but KP Boateng has had a history of some very nasty tackles. Including one against one against Wolfsburg's Hasebe a few years ago which ended up with a kung fu like like kick on the face. It was not a pretty sight - all that blood.
@BigBear
You're not a Chelsea fan if you're okay with that tackle. That tackle was dirty and down right dangerous. Slapping doesn't deserve having a ligament torn in your ankle and sending you out of the the last World Cup you were going to participate in. "Fuck you too tackles" are unacceptable and I wonder why you watch soccer when you seem better suited to be a UFC fan.
Nothing wrong with this tackle. Players slug it out on the field and some come off injured. it's just part of the game. Ballack slaps kevin prince boateng. KPB send ballack out of the World Cup with a "Fuck you too tackle". Thats ok with me. You don't slap anyone any how. This article does not make sense.
I take great exception to the slap in the first place. Ballack is simply a dirty player. He did it with Patrice Evra once. As a chelsea fan, I don't like his play. Chelsea cannot extend his contract.