Loew: Ballack retirement was handled badly

Germany coach Joachim Loew admits the end of Michael Ballack’s international career could have been handled better.

Ballack was set to lead his country at last year’s World Cup in South Africa when he suffered an injury in Chelsea’s FA Cup final clash with Portsmouth which ruled him out of the tournament.

The midfielder was not recalled to the squad for the Euro 2012 qualification campaign and Loew announced in June that he would not be selecting Ballack again as he wished to focus on developing younger players.

The German Football Association (DFB) offered Ballack a farewell friendly against Brazil in June, but the player angrily declined, lashing out at Loew for treating him disrespectfully and labelling the tribute game “a farce”.

And Loew now confesses that the whole affair was poorly managed.

“All of us who were involved in this thing should have found a better solution,” Loew told Sky Bundesliga. “All of the parties involved.”

“Just as it was then, and how it is currently, it is not satisfactory.”

Loew added he still believes that he could yet patch up the relationship with his form skipper, saying, “I hope we can resolve things someday.”

Ballack’s future in the game is currently the subject of much debate, with the Bayer Leverkusen midfielder reportedly considering moving abroad again at the end of the season.