Word: ballack
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...host Austria, hanging by a thread, will have to overcome Germany to reach the knockout phase. The Austrians might take notes on how the Croats fashioned their decisive win over the favored Germans: by completely clogging the gears of the German passing machine. Germany center midfielder Michael Ballack spent the day spewing misdirected passes all over the pitch, never quite finding Mario Gomez or Miroslav Klose. Croatia's leprechaun middleman Luka Modric, in the meantime, was dancing around the pitch with the ball, often picking out Ivica Olic, who scored the second goal when a deflected shot from the right...
...Perhaps it did. Chelsea looked competent but never comfortable, and the loss of Michael Ballack in the midfield and Ricardo Carvalho in the back deprived it of any midfield ingenuity, as Michael Essien was forced to drop deep as cover. This left Frank Lampard to do the the creative work and he was not up to the task this evening. Front man Didier Drogba, who had created all kinds of trouble for Liverpool last week, got the same treatment Crouch did, although he certainly complained much more about it. His flops made the Kop howl with derision...
...making a profit, but there's not so much of an excuse now." Profitability would no doubt be helped if clubs could bring wages under control. Over the past decade, according to Deloitte, Premier League wages rose an average of 20% a year. Top earners like Chelsea's Michael Ballack and Thierry Henry of Arsenal reportedly pocket around $12.5 million each year. But in 2004-05, for the first time since 1992, total wages dipped, and the ratio of wages to revenue is lower than it is in most of the other big European leagues. Clubs threatened with relegation...
...Yokohama, to watch the showdown between the two sides who are best at what they do. Resourceful creativity versus flawless organization and execution of a plan. Personally, I prefer Ronaldinho's genius and Rivaldo's magic touch to Kahn's mountainous presence and Ballack's surgical strikes. But the Yokohama gods may see differently. After all, what do I know? But the very fact that the final is between this Brazilian and this German team, both of whom were judged prior to the tournament to fall far short of the standards set by their illustrious forebears, is testament...
...better coached American team took the game to the Germans from the outset, with 20-year-old Landon Donovan creating several chances in the first 30 minutes. He forced German keeper Oliver Kahn to demonstrate his world-class rating. Although Germany broke through with a classic header from Michael Ballack in the 36th minute, the U.S. never retreated, forcing their opponents to defend deep and sometimes desperately in the second half. "Those guys really put pressure on us," said Ballack. "They really deserved to be in the quarterfinals...