In last weekend's FA Cup final, Ballack was brutally tackled from behind by Portsmouth midfielder boateng in the 44th minute and had to go off to heal. Coach Carlo Ancelotti immediately replaced Ballack with Belletti. After the game, Barak said that the opponent was intentional, and the shovel was definitely aimed at people, not the ball.
After further examination, the team doctor of the German national team said that it would take at least eight weeks for Ballack to resume training, which declared him out of the World Cup in South Africa this summer. For Barak, who is 33 years old this year, this may be his last World Cup.
It is worth mentioning that boateng, the Portsmouth midfielder who shoveled Ballack, was born in Germany and made six appearances for the German national team U2/Kloc-0. As for the adult team, he chose Ghana's national team and successfully entered the list of 30 players in the World Cup in Ghana, which is one of Germany's group opponents.