Michael Ballack, former German National Team captain who plays for Bayer Leverkusen in the German Bundesliga, will join ESPN as a studio analyst for the UEFA European Football Championship 2012™ (Friday, June 8, through Sunday, July 1). Ballack will contribute to ESPN and ESPN2’s English-language coverage of the quadrennial European championship, appearing on pre-match, halftime and post-match shows as well as SportsCenter, ESPNEWS and other news and information programs. Appointed German National Team captain in 2004 by former coach Jurgen Klinsmann (current U.S. Men’s National Team coach), Ballack played in 98 international matches and scored 42 goals for Germany. He played for Germany’s senior team from 1999 – 2010, appearing in three UEFA European Football Championships in 2000, 2004 and 2008, and two FIFA World Cups in 2002 and 2006. Ballack will join ESPN’s Steve McManaman and Alexi Lalas, both stars of the company’s award-winning presentation of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, as the three week tournament’s lead English-language studio analysts from the ESPN studios in Bristol, Conn. McManaman, a Liverpool legend and former England National Team player, has been with ESPN fulltime since November 2010 as an English Premier League match analyst and studio analyst for international matches. Lalas, a former U.S. Men’s National Team defender and Major League Soccer executive, is a studio analyst for soccer. (Links to bios for Steve McManaman and Alexi Lalas). Beginning Friday, June 8 through Sunday, July 1, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes will combine to present more than 200 hours of live coverage of the UEFA EURO 2012, the most comprehensive presentation of the quadrennial European championship in the United States.