By Dr Paul: Michael Ballack, Germany’s totemic captain, fell under a heavy challenge from Portsmouth’s Ghanian international Kevin Prince Boateng in last weekend’s FA Cup final. As he hobbled off, all of Germany held its breath.
Sadly for Ballack, one of the stars of the past two World Cups, the worst news was confirmed – ankle ligament damage means he’ll miss the tournament in South Africa. In the subsequent days since the prognosis, a furious Germany has been delving deeper into the relationship between the two players. An article in today’s Independent explains that Boateng is from the same half-Ghanian, half-German family that also includes brother Jerome, who will turn out for Germany (and play for Manchester City next year). The article goes on to detail ‘previous’ between the two players – they apparently locked horns when Boateng and Ballack played for Hertha Berlin and Bayern Munich respectively. There are whispers and allegations from Germany that this was a ‘revenge’ attack on Ballack; a theory that’s being lent greater credence thanks to Germany and Ghana featuring in the same World Cup group. Was it really Boateng’s plan to make Germany weaker in the group stages? Ghana v Germany is a Group D match worth checking out!
Understandably, Germany, Ballack himself (who is considering legal action), ex- coach Rudi Voeller and current coach Joachim Low are angry and upset at losing their captain. Boateng has issued a public apology, and his father – still based in Germany – has moved quickly to distance himself and his son from any conspiratorial feeling. Ballack, it has to be said, is no longer the force that he once was in the centre of the park. Still dangerous and enjoying enormous stature in his homeland, he has, nonetheless, endured two less than spectacular seasons with Chelsea. Low is resisting the temptation to call up veterans Torsten Frings and Thomas Hitzlsperger to the squad in Ballack’s place, preferring to work with those he originally selected.
But what is behind this feeling of national, collective outrage? The same need for blame was felt in this country when Argentina’s Aldo Duscher tackled David Beckham in a Champions League match and broke his metatarsal, thus endangering the England captain’s presence in the 2002 World Cup.
The dynamics of attributing blame to others (scapegoating or demonising) was, in Beckham’s case, and is, in Ballack’s case, pulling the strings behind manifestations of guilt, aggression, blame and suffering – all transferred away from a person or group so as to fulfil an unconscious drive to resolve or avoid bad feelings. This is done by the displacement of responsibility onto another, who then serves as a target for blame.
In the case of Duscher and now Boateng, a collective demonisation very much follows Karpman’s Drama Triangle, which outlines the connection between responsibility and power, and the relationship to certain boundaries. This hypothesis deals with a theory that suggests all people (and in this collective form, nations) construct a ‘script’ – an individual’s concept or belief about who they are, what the world is like, how they relate to the world and how the world relates to them. In this case a national preconception with how Germany are viewed in the world, and how Ballack fits into this view, mixes toxically with the suspicion (and perhaps fear) of the dangerous Ghanaian team (e.g. we love Ballack, he represents us, he is athletic, he is all-action, he is our hero/Ghana will target Ballack, Ghana will be a better team if they don’t have Ballack to face etc).
The Drama Triangle also suggests that each of us play ‘Games’ which are unconsciously motivated behavioural interactions with the world, our environment and those people with whom we are in contact. A ‘Game’ in this context is an unconscious belief that drives our actions and behaviour, in such a way as to either contribute to, or cause situations to occur that evoke a familiar feeling – usually negative. This feeling reinforces our beliefs or perceptions about ourselves, the world, other people and how we are treated.
Three clear roles within the Drama Triangle define the process – Victim, Perpetrator and Saviour. We know the roles Ballack and Boateng occupy, but who will be Germany’s saviour? Only time will tell…