Munich - Germany captain Michael Ballack has defended his recent criticism on coach Joachim Loew, naming it a wakeup call.

"Sometimes you have to go public deliberately in order to shake
things up. There were a few irritations during and after the European
championships," Ballack told German pay-TV network Premiere ahead of
the European Champions League match of his club Chelsea at Girondins
Bordeaux on Wednesday.

Ballack said "you can't discuss everything internally," insisted he
"issued his opinion in decent way" and said "I didn't want to attack
anyone."

The midfielder also said while not everyone was happy that he went
public, there was hardly any criticism on the opinion he had voiced.

Ballack, 32, had attacked Loew in a newspaper interview last month
after veteran fellow-midfielder Torsten Frings was benched for two
World Cup qualifiers. The captain questioned Loew's selection criteria
and said he lacked respect for long-time Germany players.

Loew ordered Ballack to apologize which happened during a meeting
four weeks ago. As a result, Ballack remained on the team and its
captain.

Ballack's latest statement came a week after Loew addressed the
entire squad to lay down some guidelines on player behaviour after
several conflicts and the public complaints from Ballack and Frings. (dpa)