Voeller: Ballack should get coaching badge

Berlin: Former Germany captain Michael Ballack, without a club since leaving Bayer Leverkusen at the end of last season, should get his coaching badges, Leverkusen manager Rudi Voeller has recommended.

“He has the capability and intelligence to be a coach,” Voeller told Sport Bild newspaper, adding that he had suggested Ballack “get his badges” after the last match of the 2011-12 season.

The 35-year-old Ballack, capped 98 times by Germany, has fallen out off the football radar since leaving Leverkusen, whom he joined in 2010 after four years with English Premier League club Chelsea.

This summer he was linked with a move to the American MLS league, while working for US sports channel ESPN as a pundit for Euro 2012.