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Michael Ballack will remain captain of Germany's
national soccer team after apologising for his public criticism of
coach Joachim Loew, the German FA (DFB) announced on
Friday.
"Joachim Loew and Michael Ballack were able to establish a new
basis of trust during their private meeting in Frankfurt on
Thursday and Michael Ballack will therefore remain team captain,"
the DFB said in a statement.
Ballack flew to Frankfurt at Loew's request on Thursday to
discuss comments made to a German newspaper about the way team mate
Torsten Frings was dropped from the country's last two World Cup
qualifiers.
Ballack had already issued a public statement ahead of the
meeting, saying that he would apologise to Loew.
"The precondition (for Ballack remaining captain) was that he
had apologised to Loew, allowing the conflict to be resolved," the
DFB added.
