Germany "shocked" that Michael Ballack will miss the World Cup

The Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack was unluckily injured during the FA Cup Final at the weekend, and it has now been revealed that he will now miss the whole of the World Cup while he is recovering.

The Germany boss Joachim Loew admitted his disappointment at losing his captain and leader. He said: “Michael Ballack is a very important player for us, in the decisive matches he often played a very, very important role for us, a central role for us,”

“We were all naturally shocked this morning when we got the news. I talked to Michael. He’s deeply disappointed. He put all his energy and power into playing in this World Cup.

“He’s near his 100th cap. That would have been a match in Frankfurt against Bosnia.

“That’s an immense disappointment for him to not be able to play in this World Cup.

“I called the team together and spoke with the team and passed along the information. It’s very, very unfortunate for us. But it shows we have to pull all our strength together and look forward.

“We’ve got a lot of young players. We’ve now got to get to that point that our younger players get this self-confidence and can grow into the roles.”

This bad news will certainly have shaken their confidence ahead of the biggest tournament in the world. Can they still win it without Ballack?