Ballack admits injury led to retirement thoughts

19 December 2007 19:38

Germany captain Michael Ballack, seen here in April 2007, has revealed thoughts of retirement crossed his mind as he struggled to get over the serious long-term ankle injury which plagued him this year.

BERLIN (AFP) - Germany captain Michael Ballack has revealed thoughts of retirement crossed his mind as he struggled to get over the serious long-term ankle injury which plagued him this year.

Ballack, 31, was injured in April playing for Premier League giants Chelsea against Newcastle, but needed two operations to fix his left ankle and is now back in training.

Having spent the last seven months on the sidelines, Ballack says he will be back in top form for next June's Euro 2008 finals, but he admitted he had thought of having to quit the game when his injury dragged on.

"I always believed in the fact that I would come back," Ballack told German weekly newspaper Die Zeit.

"But I was really worried about the injury, I had thousands of questions, but just did not have the answers.

"It got on my friends and families nerves: I couldn't get my injury out of my head 24 hours a day.

"Sometimes, I thought to myself, 'man, now you are 31, you had 14 good years as a professional. Perhaps that is it now'."

The Chelsea midfielder also made clear his long-term plans to play for a year or two following the 2010 World Cup finals.

He told Wednesday's Sport Bild magazine: "I have enough time to be in top form for June," referring to the June 7 to 29 Euro 2008 finals in Austria and Switzerland.

"After this injury problem, I'm particularly motivated for the 2010 World Cup finals. After that I will wait and see if I can play a year or two more."