Ballack blasts Boateng over tackle

Michael Ballack
12 April 2012

Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack accused Portsmouth's Kevin-Prince Boateng of purposely trying to hurt him after a tackle which left the Germany captain a doubt for the World Cup finals this summer.

Ballack had to leave Chelsea's 1-0 FA Cup final victory over Pompey just before half-time following a reckless challenge from Boateng.

"I am more worried about my injury now," said Ballack, who left Wembley with his right foot in a protective boot. "I have seen it on TV and to say it was not on purpose means you have to be a friend of Boateng."

He added: "Boateng was lucky to get away with a yellow but it is football and if the referee controls the game and decides it is no red card you have to accept it.

"I can walk on it, not quite comfortable but I can walk, which is not the worst thing. I don't think there is a break.

"We will have to wait to have a scan, then we'll know more. Hopefully it won't stop me playing in the World Cup.

"I couldn't carry on but I hope it's not too bad. Injuries are not good but there is a little time to go yet until the World Cup."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in