Doesn't stop the fact that Michael Ballack is a damn good player. Performanya untuk Chelsea musim lalu sangat bagus tapi gw gak begitu yakin apa jadinya musim depan setelah kedatangan Deco.
Cheers Danny Ganteng & Baek hati --- In [email protected], Billy Tan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Is Michael Ballack the biggest loser ever? > > Plus: High-scoring debutants; the origin of the blinder; little and > large strike duos; and modern football's cheapest player. Send your > questions and answers to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > * Alan Gardner, Howard Swain, Tom Davies and John Ashdown > <http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/johnashdown> > * guardian.co.uk <http://www.guardian.co.uk/>, > * Wednesday July 23, 2008 > * Article history > > Michael Ballack: not even the best at being runner-up. Photograph: Lars > Baron/Bongarts/Getty Images > > *"Does any top player have a more impressive collection of runners-up > medals than Michael Ballack?"* asked Tobin Dunn a few weeks ago > <http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/jul/01/knowledge>. > > Well, Tobin, we should perhaps start by appraising Ballack's career as > bridesmaid. You might think that 2008 is far out in front in his annus > horribilis stakes, with the Premier League, Champions League, League Cup > (all with Chelsea) and the European Championship (Germany) all going > begging; however, Ballack has been here before, missing out on the > Bundesliga, Champions League, German League Cup (with Bayer Leverkusen) > and World Cup in 2002. He's also got three more second-place medals from > the Bundesliga (two with Leverkusen in 1999 and 2000, one with Bayern > Munich in 2004), and another Premier League silver with Chelsea (2007). > > That gives a total of 12 rueful pats on the back for Herr Ballack > (though we should probably also mention that he's also been champion on > several occasions). However, despite his prowess at losing, the Blues > powerhouse looks like missing out on top spot once again. Our own > research led us to Scotland, and the league of alternating champions, > where Celtic and Scotland legend Paul McStay became used to life at > number two. Having been a member of the Celtic squad that finished > second on six occasions (1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1996, 1997), he was > also on the losing side in two Scottish Cup finals (1984, 1990), and > four Scottish League Cup finals (1984, 1987, 1991 1995). That would see > him tied with Ballack on 12 but for the delightful fact that McStay > also played in the 1989 Rous Cup (a sort of replacement for the British > Home Championship), coming second to England. > > Scotland possesses an even bigger loser than McStay, though. Paul Haynes > sent us details of Sandy Jardine's career, during which he won > runners-up medals in the Scottish league seven times (1967, 1968, 1969, > 1970, 1973, 1977, 1979) and in the Scottish Cup three times (1977, 1980, > 1982). And that was just with Rangers. He went on to achieve second-best > with Hearts in Scottish Division One (1983) and again in the SPL (1986, > 1988), as well as in the Scottish Cup of 1986. To top all that off, he > captained the Scottish team that finished as runners-up to England in > the 1975 British Home Championship, setting the bar at 15. > > However, our outstanding contender comes from the continent, with Dudley > Armitage (among others) alerting us to the fact that despite all his > successes, Paolo Maldini has missed out on the cigar quite a number of > times as well: three Champions League finals (1993, 1995, 2005), three > Intercontinental/World Club Cups (1993, 1994, 2003), two Coppa Italias > (1990, 1998), three Supercoppa Italias (1996, 1999, 2003), one Uefa > Super Cup (1993), a World Cup (1994), and European Championship (2000). > Add those to the three times Milan have come up one short in Serie A > (1990, 1991, 2005) and it's a grand total of 17 near misses for the > veteran Italian. >
