Emmet Malone kept a close eye on the influential captain during last night's game

The tears flowed freely on and off the pitch in Dortmund last night as Michael Ballack and his German team-mates made their World Cup exit in agonising fashion against an Italian side that simply had too much for them in the last 80 seconds of another marathon encounter.

A vital challenge against South Korea four years ago earned him a suspension for the final against Brazil, and the 29-year-old dug deep again as he sought to haul those around him over the last hurdle before Berlin.

In the end, though, his obvious fitness problems took their toll, and as he faded so the Italians profited, with Fabio Grosso curling the decisive left-footed strike past the German skipper and into the left-hand corner.

The scale of the problems he endured on Friday had suggested Ballack might struggle even to start here and when the 90 minutes came to an end the team's physios again busied themselves giving him treatment in order to keep him on the field. The three-times German footballer of the year is, however, at the very heart of Juergen Klinsmann's game-plan, coolly exerting an influence on everything that happens around him and, with Torsten Frings already missing, it was clear he could not be left on the sidelines.

In the absence of Frings, the 29-year-old found himself playing alongside Sebastien Kehl in the centre. The change seemed to inspire a slightly more cautious approach by the former Bayern Munich skipper, for he looked more content to sit tight, quietly floating in front of the side's centre halves and straying close to the opposition's area on only a handful of occasions.

Still, he seemed always to be available when required by team-mates who had otherwise run out of options while seeking to advance and he proved a formidable obstacle for Francesco Totti and Andrea Pirlo until he lost his mobility when the game moved into extra-time.

Without a goal in four games at this World Cup, his own attempts to break the deadlock were limited to a single long-range shot and a free eight minutes from time that flew just inches over Gianluigi Buffon's crossbar. Almost every time the hosts pressed forward during the first hour and a half, however, he had a hand in the action and his exchanges with Philipp Lahm were particularly productive.

His encounters with Totti were particularly telling. As early as the eighth minute the German was giving his counterpart problems. Ballack had just ventured forward to have his first and, as it turned out, only long-range crack at goal but having squandered the shooting opportunity with a strike that flew high and wide to the right, he was straight back down to business inside his own half.

Throughout the contest, the recently recruited Chelsea player sought to both encourage and cajole those around him. Miroslav Klose, Tim Borowski and Kehl were all pushed or prodded in one direction or another, told to come deeper, push wider or hold their ground in the centre. None showed the slightest agitation at their skipper's interference.

With his mobility restricted late on by the injury, though, he was forced to be a lot more economical with his movement as the two sides played out two remarkably open periods of extra-time.

Ballack'e influence was clearing waning. The Italians profited and the corner that eventually led to the first of two quick Italian goals came after Pirlo had pressed forward almost unchallenged and forced Jens Lehmann into a fine save.

Ballack limped through the closing stages and looked on helplessly as Alessandro Del Piero scored the second. The hosts were out and, for all his most defiant efforts, his dream of becoming the fourth German skipper to lead his country to the title of world champions had finally been shattered beyond repair.