Ballack claims assurances from Loew over captaincy

Michael Ballack claimed on Thursday that Germany coach Joachim Loew had assured him he would be captain of the national side when he returned from injury.

The 33-year-old Ballack captained Germany 55 times in his 98 internationals until an injury in the English FA Cup final in May while playing for Chelsea ruled him out of the World Cup finals in South Africa.

Philipp Lahm, who took over the armband and led Germany to third place in the finals, has since declared that he wants to remain as captain.

“When the question of the captaincy came up during the tournament I waited until the end of the competition to call ‘Jogi’ Loew,” Ballack told German news agency SID.

“And the coach then assured me that I should not have any concerns and that I should just stay calm.”

Ballack is now back in training with new club Bayer Leverkusen but neither he nor Lahm took part in Wednesday’s friendly against Denmark which ended in a 2-2 draw.

Before that match, Loew said he would make a decision on the captaincy at the beginning of September after “serious discussions” with the two players.

Germany begin their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign against Belgium in Brussels on September 3.