Kaiser Junior Ballack is ruling at last

It was instructive to watch Ballack as mayhem descended in that 86th minute with bellowed protests and counterprotests over the penalty award erupting amid the most frenzied crowd noise heard at the Bridge since the Champions League dust-up with Barcelona three years ago.

The German just ignored it all with studied calm, standing next to the spot, icily guarding the ball with his life and ready to argue the toss with anybody who felt they should be Frank Lampard's stand-in and take the kick which might condemn-an unwary individual to eternal title-losing damnation.

There appeared to be a couple of halfhearted enquiries from his colleagues but even Drogba wasn't demented enough to fancy that role.

Edwin van der Sar tried to put off Ballack, getting booked for his irritating trouble; Mikael Silvestre chucked dirt aimlessly into the air to distract him.

Yet there wasn't a second when you imagined he would miss. Not because Germans don' t blow penalty kicks but because he is a player of such immense character as well as rare ability.

It's the sort of character which saw Ballack for years in Germany live with accusations that he hadn't the heart or temperament for the big occasions while all the time inspiring Bayern Munich to three domestic League and Cup doubles; the sort, too, which enabled a man to completely blank out his most grievous sadness in football - the booking in the 2002 World Cup semi against Korea which meant he would miss the final - by immediately going down the other end and scoring the winner.

Most of all, it's the kind of steel which saw him, when far from 100 per cent fit, take untold stick from Chelsea terraces and return this year to gradually assert himself as the thoroughbred champion he always was.

Only now are we seeing the real Ballack, all class and deceptive industry. Saturday's man-of-the-match performance came after those in the home Champions League against Olympiacos and Fenerbahce while his goals followed strikes in those knockout matches, plus winners against Fulham and Reading. Since his return following his eight-month absence with his ankle woes, he's scored eight in 26 games compared to last season's six in 46.

At those critical moments in the season when a big club must count on their biggest players, the midfielder is delivering. The Drogba-Ballack spat naturally raised eyebrows, but there isn't a Chelsea fan who is going to worry if the skippers of the German and Ivorian national teams can still play the kind of inspirational captain's innings we saw on Saturday.

That's not to mention the effort of John Terry who, in any contest for the England armband, had to be seen to have scored over Rio Ferdinand, who with his squawking near-implosion can only have left a more positive impression on that poor steward's shin than he did on Fabio Capello. Where were the generals in red? At the 'Squeaky Bum' time of Sir Alex Ferguson the highest-pitched whines seemed to be emanating from Manchester.

Ballack perhaps recognised the seeds of a collapse after being part of a Bayer Leverkusen team in 2000 who threw away the Bundesliga title by losing on the last day of the season.

That's ancient history, though. If it all comes down to an exercise in nerve holding, it would be easy to be convinced Chelsea's is being soothed by the coolest Teutonic customer out there. Fancy another penalty shootout on Wednesday, Rafa?