Tred carefully, Loew warns Ballack

Germany coach Joachim Loew on Wednesday warned captain Michael Ballack to choose his words carefully or face the consequences, while Franz Beckenbauer is speechless over the Chelsea star's latest comments.

On Tuesday, Ballack said he feels he was right to criticise Loew in an interview here last month which led to their public spat and says it is sometimes good to make things public.

His comments are the latest in a long saga which erupted when Ballack criticised Loew last month in a thinly-veiled attack by telling the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) senior players deserve more respect and loyalty.

Ballack later apologised in person to Loew, but the national coach has warned his captain to tred carefully on the subject which threatens to flare up again and embarrass die Mannschaft further.

“Michael is entitled to his opinion and to express criticism,” Loew told German tabloid Bild.

“But he will not make then known publicly, there you can be quite sure, because he knows what the consequences would be.”

But German legend Franz Beckenbauer, who captained and coached Germany to World Cup triumph, was shocked at Ballack's latest comments.

“I am speechless,” Beckenbauer told Bild.

“I don't know what else to say.

“I actually thought this matter was settled.

“It would be terrible if this topic becomes an on-running saga.”

Just four weeks after his public spat with Loew, die Mannschaft captain Ballack told German television channel Premiere on Tuesday he was right to criticise Loew for dropping veteran Torsten Frings last month.

“Sometimes you want to go public with things, in an even manner, to wake and shake things up a little,” Ballack told Premiere on Tuesday.

“Sometimes you have to make a few critical tones in public.”

Ballack is adamant he did not intend criticising Loew, either now or last month, but when asked if he regretted last month's FAZ interview said on Tuesday: “No, I gave my opinion in a reasonable tone.

“I was attacking nobody, that was not what I wanted to do at all.”