German Footballer Michael Ballack Quit his Career

The Former Germany captain Ballack, who had played for Bayern Munich and Chelsea, had called a halt to his professional football career on 3 October 2012.
It was the downtime in his career which showed him that the time was right to stop.
Ballack became a free agent at the end of June after Leverkusen opted not to offer their former captain a contract extension.

Ballack began his professional career in 1995 and won the first of four Bundesliga titles with Kaiserslautern in 1998.
He missed out on a major trophy with Leverkusen in his first spell at the club and in 2002 he finished as a runner-up in the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, Champions League and World Cup.

He spent the last two seasons of his career with Leverkusen and appeared for the last time in a 4-1 win over Nurnberg, leaving the field to a standing ovation in the 51st minute of what turned out to be his last-ever game as a professional Footballer.

Internationally, Ballack has played in the European Championships in 2000, 2004 and 2008 and the FIFA World Cup in 2002 and 2006. Jurgen Klinsmann appointed him captain of the national team in 2004. Ballack scored consecutive game-winning goals in the quarter-final and semi-final to help his country to the 2002 World Cup Final, and led his team to the semi-finals of the 2006 World Cup and the Euro 2008 Final.

He is among the top goal scorers in the history of his international team. He was also selected by Pele as one of FIFA's 100 Greatest Living Players and as the UEFA Club Midfielder of the Year in 2002. He has won the German Footballer of the Year award three times – in 2002, 2003 and 2005. Ballack is known for his passing range, scoring ability, ball skills, and commanding presence in the midfield.