BALLACK: " I still see that hunger there"

Michael Ballack has taken the time out to speak of Chelsea and their quest for Champions League glory. Ballack knows only too well what defeat in the final stages of the Champions League feels like and reveals just how much Moscow hurt us but, believes Chelsea and the players still have a hunger and desire to win the worlds best club competition. He said:

(Speaking of Moscow) It’s hard to remember details of what happened when you lose such a big game, you just remember how much it hurt. I think I had a good game but I remember there was nothing much between the teams. We were at the same level, both teams had a lot of quality but if anything we had the advantage during the game and even in extra time we had the chance to finish it. You go through so many emotions but the way that game finished was unbelievable. We had another chance to win it with JT’s penalty, one kick from the cup.

People ask you what it feels like to lose these games and I find it very hard to describe what goes through your mind. I’d been there before with Leverkusen in 2002. When a team beats you 3-0 and you know you have been outplayed it is easier to accept than losing in a really tight game like this. It was a game we lost through our own faults, mistakes we made.

Even after years have gone by you still feel the hurt. I remember just feeling empty. In the dressing room after the game everybody was low, completely disappointed. Nobody could speak, there was nothing to say. The club had arranged some drinks for us, like a party, but most of us just drank a couple of beers and went to our rooms, to talk to friends and family and try to take our minds off it. Even weeks later you still have that emptiness.

Everybody thinks John is a strong boy because he looks like he can deal with anything but he is human like the rest of us. We are just sportsmen and it affects us just as much. There was not a lot you could say to him after the game. He was crying and told us he was sorry. But we were a team: we won as a team and lost as a team so nobody blamed anyone.

I still see the hunger in this team, in these players. I came over to see them for the Fulham game and went into the dressing room. I stay in touch with players and staff at the club and I know the ambition is still there. Everybody knows how much Roman wants to win the Champions League and any player who has been at the club in the last four, five or six years feels this ambition. I still see that hunger there.

(Source: Telegraph)

KTBFFH

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