Ballack ready for more

By Adrian Harte and Mark Chaplin

As he joked with his former boss Reiner Calmund, the general manager of Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Michael Ballack was in beaming good form, which was hardly surprising, given that the German international and FC Bayern München newcomer had just been voted Best Midfielder at the UEFA Gala Dinner in Monaco.

Tribute to team-mates
Cutting a much taller and imposing figure in the bright lights of the Monte Carlo Sporting Club than he does on the pitch, Ballack seem unperturbed by the adulation that has come his way over the past 18 months. The German player of the year remains a polite and willing interviewee, and his tribute to his former Leverkusen teammates on accepting his award and his open-eyed excitement at being snapped alongside Prince Albert of Monaco afterwards belied the reputation for arrogance some had saddled him with before he made his dramatic breakthrough last season.

Near misses
Not that the past year has been without its disappointments. Ballack and bittersweet became synonymous as he scored goals as Leverkusen were pipped to the 1. Bundesliga on the final day and then lost the German Cup final, and then played a pivotal role as Leverkusen reached the UEFA Champions League final only to miss the defeat against Real Madrid CF through suspension. History repeated itself at the FIFA World Cup as Ballack scored the crucial goals to get Germany to the final only to again be banned as his team lost to Brazil.

Secret of success
Speaking to uefa.com after picking up his Best Midfielder award, Ballack reflected on the World Cup. "We did not know exactly where we stood in the preparatory matches; we had had a bad [2000 UEFA] European Championship and introduced a lot of new players," he said. "We knitted together well in the tournament, perhaps we were not a great team, but we functioned excellently and that was the secret of our success."

Praise from Matthäus
Ballack's performances last season elevated them to the top bracket of players in the world. His predecessor at Bayern and in the Nationalmannschaft, Lothar Matthäus, presented Ballack with his award and told uefa.com how highly he rated the 25-year-old. He said: "He is a different type of player to me but he was the best player last season in the German championship, in the UEFA Champions League and he has played a good World Cup; he scored some very important goals for the German team."

Ready for 2006
Matthäus, who captained Germany to World Cup glory in 1990, opined that Ballack is likely to lead another successful era for German football. He added: "German football is on the up now after the World Cup final against Brazil and we hope for the same final in four years when we play at home in Germany and we hope we can win that final."

'A clever team'
And Matthäus was in no doubt about the impact Ballack could make at Bayern. "Bayern is a good team every year but now with Ballack and Ze Roberto it is better, " he said. "I saw them playing against [FK] Partizan in the Olympiastadion and this team played football. Normally Bayern was a clever team, but now with these good players, technically I think it is one of the best teams that there has been in 100 years at Bayern."

'Great strides forwards'
Ballack is sure to be a key figure as Bayern attempt to regain their UEFA Champions League crown, but this weekend his focus is on the national team, with Germany taking on Lithuania in their opening EURO 2004™ qualifying match. He said: "I think the players gained great self-confidence through the World Cup experience, and can take this into their clubs and develop themselves further. I hope to also, after such success in that tournament, and I think that all of our players will have taken great strides forward."

'Hard work ahead'
He concluded: "We've got a lot of hard work ahead of us now to consolidate, and we have to carry on the World Cup form into the EURO 2004™ campaign, which will be difficult. But I am confident that we will do well."