Ballack remains a Germany doubt in final countdown to Euro final

Jun 29, 2008, 12:07 GMT

Vienna - Germany captain Michael Ballack's participation in the Euro 2008 final against Spain remained unclear in the final hours before Sunday night's kickoff.

'It is still open. The decision will be made shortly before the match,' said Harald Stenger, spokesman of the German football federation DFB.

Stenger did not want to comment whether Ballack was present in the final light training on Sunday morning. The starting lineup must be given little more than one hour ahead of the 1845 GMT kickoff.

Ballack, 31, was announced a serious doubt on Saturday when coach Joachim Loew and officials revealed that the Chelsea midfielder has been nursing calf muscle problems since Friday morning and hasn't trained since.

Loew spoke of only 'little hope' that the influential Ballack could take to the pitch at the Ernst Happel stadium. He said that either Tim Borowski or Bastian Schweinsteiger could play in Ballack's midfield position if worse came to worst.

Being sidelined would be a massive blow for Ballack as he would miss a big final for the second time in his illustrious career.

A yellow card suspension forced Ballack to sit out the 2002 World Cup final against Brazil which Germany lost 2-0 in Yokohama. In addition, Ballack is yet to win a big title as he lost Champions League finals with Bayer Leverkusen in 2002 and Chelsea last month.