One of the reasons I hate international breaks. One thing's for sure Ballack has got more balls about him than Gerrard will ever have.

Germany midfielder Michael Ballack has sustained an ankle injury during his side's 1-0 win over Russia, and is now a major doubt for Wednesday's clash with Finland.

Bayern Munich striker Miroslav Klose netted the only goal to send the Germans to the World Cup and condemned Russia to the lottery of the play-offs.

Chelsea midfielder Ballack twisted his ankle in the first half of the encounter, but finished the match to guide his nation to victory, although it may have come at a cost to his club.

Coach Joaquim Loew may opt to play less experienced internationals in the midweek match, given Germany have already secured their place at the top of Group 4, meaning Ballack may not have featured in any case.

However, Chelsea face a crucial trip to face Aston Villa in the Premier League next weekend, and depending on the seriousness of Ballack's injury, he may be unavailable for the match.

The 33-year old picked up his 96th cap for his country, and he has previously stated that he is considered retiring from international football after next summers' event in South Africa in order to prolong his club career.

Poor Guus..

Germany midfielder Michael Ballack has sustained an ankle injury during his side's 1-0 win over Russia, and is now a major doubt for Wednesday's clash with Finland.

There's absolutely no way he should play on Wednesday. Germany has secured the top spot in the group and Finland will finish third in the group no matter what the result on Wednesday will be, so there's nothing to play for(but pride).

Judging by what i have seen from finland (no disprespect intended) but not having ballack shouldnt hurt germany too much,i hope he gets a rest and comes back fit for our game against villa.

Edited October 11, 200916 yr by BlueNose

Judging by what i have seen from finland (no disprespect intended) but not having ballack shouldnt hurt germany too much

http://www.uefa.com/competitions/worldcup/...2455/index.html :P

http://www.uefa.com/competitions/worldcup/...2455/index.html :P

,Fair play

Ya I hope he's back on time for Villa as well, I've liked the Ballack we've seen this year.

Ballack played the first half, but Finland honestly were the better side for large parts of the match and were just minutes away from being only the third team to beat Germany in a World Cup qualifying match in Germany. Then Finland gave away a silly gift of a goal and it ended 1-1. Lots of positive things for Finnish fans even if we couldn't quite get the win. Finland played with great confidence and defended well for 89 minutes.

Edited October 14, 200916 yr by Maksimov

hope he's fit for saturday to, he adds stability to our midfield