Ex-West London resident Michael Ballack faces a hefty fine and a hero’s reception after being spotted shouting “Scheiss FC Koeln!” (crap Cologne FC) through a megaphone on Sunday, as the former German Fussballer-in-Chief found himself back in favour and the firing line at the BayArena.
Leverkusen supporters had been left disillusioned when their returning idol deserted them shortly before kick-off against VfL Wolfsburg a fortnight ago; the 34-year-old refusing to warm the bench following a string of games without a start. However, Ballack was welcomed, both back into the fold by current coach and future Bayern Munich boss Jupp Heynckes, and back into his followers’ hearts after celebrating back-to-back starts for the first time since August with a commanding display upon his latest comeback from injury in a 2-0 win over Schalke 04 this weekend.
In Germany, the home fans have a habit of celebrating any victory by remaining in the ground and inviting a selected member of the playing staff to scale a perimeter fence and lead the chants from the main Kurve or terrace, with the rest of the squad joining in a choreographed dance routine from the pitch. On this occasion, the chosen one was Ballack, who simply could not resist the temptation to taunt their rivals from across the river Rhein.
In May 2009, Werder Bremen goalkeeper and sun-bed enthusiast Tim Wiese was urged to hurl abuse at his club’s arch-enemies Hamburg. He duly obliged and was handed a 10,000 euro forfeit for his troubles. But, while Wiese’s fine keeping and unsavoury antics had riled his opponents in equal measure throughout a memorable three-week treble of victories over his team’s bitter adversaries, Ballack’s more measured reaction will surely be met with greater sympathy, if not understanding, at least from the German general public.
The former Chelsea midfielder was released by the London club in the summer, having helped the Champions to their first ever league and cup double, following an injury on the last day of the domestic calendar that kept him out of the World Cup and seemingly ended his international career. His pencilled-in farewell fixture will leave him one short of a century of caps.
Ballack’s comeback to the club where he made his name has been about as ill-fated as everything that has gone before it; the damaging effect of an alleged affair and a succession of injuries well in keeping with a career that has seen the talisman fall at the final hurdle in all three major competitions during his first stint with the club in 2002. That was before missing the World Cup Final, to which he and Oliver Kahn had dragged the Germany side kicking and screaming, through suspension, then being pipped to both League Cup and Champions League medals for Chelsea in 2008 and in 2009, by poor team selection, penalty-taking and refereeing respectively.
If this performance was, in fact, the first step along the road to re-establishing himself in a side still harbouring remote hopes of the title and one which seems certain to be back among Europe’s elite next term, many might indulge the unluckiest man in football with more than one last harmless hurrah.
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