Feeling blue: Ballack missed out on Chelsea's FA
Cup winning celebrations in 2007 but the German hopes to join the
party this time round at Wembley
Barcelona's Champions League triumph will only serve to
intensify
Chelsea's nagging mood of
missed opportunity, and Michael Ballack maintains there was nobody
stronger than them in Europe this year.
Guus Hiddink's team nullified the Barca threat for 180 minutes
of their semi-final against the Spanish champions, only to be
beaten on away goals after Andres Iniesta's equaliser in stoppage
time of the second leg at Stamford Bridge.
Ballack said before Saturday's FA Cup final against
Everton: 'We've played a good season with a lot of good
performances. In the Champions League especially, I think we were
one of the strongest, if not the strongest, team. But we didn't get
to that final, so this is our last chance to win something.'
Ballack's career has become almost as notable for its near
misses as its successes. He has lost his two Champions League
finals, was a runner-up at Euro 2008 and missed Germany's defeat in
the 2002 World Cup final through suspension.
'But since the FA Cup final in 2007, those feelings have changed
and now I know I helped contribute a lot on the way to the final,
even if I didn't get to play at Wembley, so I definitely feel part
of the victory.'
Ballack is by no means certain to start at Wembley. Hiddink has
favoured a midfield trio of John Mikel Obi, Michael Essien and
Frank Lampard in the three games since Barcelona.
Mikel will regard Chelsea’s season as a failure if his team do
not lift the Cup.
The Nigerian said: ‘It has to be if we don’t win anything. We
have to win.’
