Germany coach Joachim Low concedes the process which led to the end of Michael Ballack's international career should have been handled better.

Ballack was expected to lead his country at last year's World Cup finals but suffered an injury in Chelsea's FA Cup final clash with Portsmouth which ruled him out of the tournament.

The resulting success of a young German team in South Africa prompted Low to announce in June that he would not be selecting Ballack again as it went against his new focus on youth development. The midfielder, who turned 35 in September, lashed out at Low for treating him disrespectfully and even turned down the offer of a testimonial match for Germany.

Under Low's leadership, the German national team has continued to get stronger and qualified for Euro 2012 top of their group. They head into next summer's tournament as one of the favourites to lift the trophy but looking back now Low admits some regret at the way Ballack - a player who has played for Germany nearly 100 times - retired from international football.

"All of us who were involved in this thing should have found a better solution," Low told Sky Bundesliga.

"All of the parties involved. Just as it was then, and how it is currently, it is not satisfactory."

"I hope we can resolve things someday."

Ballack currently plays his club football with Bayer Leverkusen but has recently been linked with a move to Major League Soccer.