Kevin-Prince Boateng in October 2011 |
|||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kevin-Prince Boateng | ||
| Date of birth | 6 March 1987 | ||
| Place of birth | Berlin, Germany | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Playing position | Trequartista[1] / Midfielder / Utility player | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | A.C. Milan | ||
| Number | 27 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1994 | Reinickendorfer Füchse | ||
| 1994–2005 | Hertha BSC | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2004–2007 | Hertha BSC II | 29 | (5) |
| 2005–2007 | Hertha BSC | 42 | (4) |
| 2007–2009 | Tottenham Hotspur | 14 | (0) |
| 2009 | → Borussia Dortmund (loan) | 10 | (0) |
| 2009–2010 | Portsmouth | 22 | (3) |
| 2010– | Milan | 33 | (6) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2001–2002 | Germany U-15 | 4 | (1) |
| 2002–2003 | Germany U-16 | 10 | (3) |
| 2003–2004 | Germany U-17 | 10 | (1) |
| 2004–2005 | Germany U-19 | 9 | (4) |
| 2005–2006 | Germany U-20 | 2 | (0) |
| 2006–2007 | Germany U-21 | 6 | (0) |
| 2010–2011 | Ghana | 9 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 9 December 2011. † Appearances (Goals). |
|||
Kevin-Prince Boateng ( /ˈboʊtɛŋ/ boh-teng) (born 6 March 1987), is a German-born Ghanaian professional footballer, who plays as a trequartista for Serie A club A.C. Milan.[1] Boateng plays with his first name, Prince, on his shirt.[2] He played nine games for Ghanaian national team after appearing for Germany's under-15s to their under-21s; he retired from international football on 4 November 2011.[3] Boateng is known for his strength, footspeed, ball-juggling tricks and offensive abilities.[4][5] Boateng has received praise from George Weah for his attributes[6] and Dejan Savićević has branded him as one of Europe's best footballers.[7]
Contents |
Boateng started his career with the youth club Reinickendorfer Füchse and was with Hertha from 1 July 1994, when he was just seven years old, to 31 July 2007.
After emerging from the youth team set-up, he played for the reserves for two seasons. He was twice sent off during his term with the reserves and then won a call-up to the first team squad in the 2005–06 season.
Boateng made his first team debut against Eintracht Frankfurt in the second round of the 2005–06 Bundesliga season, being brought on at the beginning of the second half, he then impressed during the game, and was on the fringe of the first team from then on, despite barely being 18 years old at the time. Boateng continued his rise, and started his first Bundesliga match in the 2–2 draw against Borussia Mönchengladbach in the 14th round of the Bundesliga season.
At senior level, Kevin will need to wean himself off the world of fantasy football.
Boateng stated that he identifies Pelé and Rivaldo as his role models, occasionally imitating the Brazilian duo with crowd-pleasing moments while he was with Hertha.[4][9] His love of playing to the gallery would draw applause, but had also attracted a fair share of criticism too. The Germany Under-19 coach, Uli Stielike criticized him for it. Boateng has since cut down on those antics.[4]
On 27 July 2006, Boateng was awarded the Fritz Walter Gold Medal in the Under-19 category. The medal is awarded on the basis of performances for the German Under-17, Under-18 and Under-19 national teams. A jury consisting of German Football Association (DFB), youth coaches, and members of the DFB Board, put Boateng top of the poll.[10] Sport director Matthias Sammer and DFB coach Horst Hrubesch honored the talented player with the gold prize winner award and the €20,000 prize-money[11] at the Stadtbauraum, Gelsenkirchen in Germany on 16 August 2006. Boateng also won the Bronze Medal Award in the Under-18 category in 2005.
Boateng signed a contract with Tottenham Hotspur in July 2007, for a reported fee of £5.4 million.[12][13] He played his first match in the Premier League on 3 November 2007, against Middlesbrough. With the departure of Tottenham manager Martin Jol, and the arrival of Juande Ramos and several high profile players, Boateng was pushed out of the first team and into the reserves.[14] Boateng returned to the first team the following season under new coach Harry Redknapp[15] before being loaned out during the January transfer window of 2009 to Borussia Dortmund for the remainder of the season.[16] Boateng then returned to Tottenham at the end of the 2008–09 season. His last game for Tottenham came as a substitute in the club's 5–1 win in the Football League Cup over Doncaster Rovers in August 2009.[17]
Boateng signed a three-year contract with Portsmouth in August 2009, for a fee of £4 million.[18][19] He scored his first Portsmouth goal in a 3–2 loss against Bolton Wanderers[20] and was named Portsmouth's Player of the Month in September 2009.[21]
With Portsmouth, Boateng reached the 2010 FA Cup Final, where they met Chelsea. In the 1–0 defeat Boateng fouled Michael Ballack,[22] causing partially torn right ankle ligaments[23] which ruled the German captain out of the 2010 FIFA World Cup,[24] which as a result was also the end of Ballack's international football career. Boateng then had a penalty saved by goalkeeper Petr Čech in the 54th minute of the match.[25] At end of the match Boateng apologized for the tackle on Ballack.[26]
Boateng transferred to Italian Serie A club Genoa C.F.C. on 17 August 2010, and immediately joined A.C. Milan on loan.[27][28] However, as anticipated by Milan CEO Adriano Galliani, the contact was later switched from loan to co-ownership, for €5.25 million. As part of the contract, Giacomo Beretta moved to Genoa C.F.C., in co-ownership deal for €4 million.[29]
Boateng made his competitive debut for Milan on 29 August 2010 in their 4–0 win against Lecce after coming on in the 75th minute. On 15 September 2010, Boateng made his debut in the UEFA Champions League for Milan in their 2–0 win against AJ Auxerre at the San Siro, coming on in the 15th minute for Massimo Ambrosini. His first goal for the club came in a 3–0 win against Brescia. In May 2011, Milan purchased full economic rights to Boateng from Genoa .[30][31]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Hertha BSC II | 2004–05 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 3 |
| 2005–06 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | |
| 2006–07 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | |
| Total | 29 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 5 | |
| Hertha BSC | 2005–06 | 21 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 27 | 2 |
| 2006–07 | 21 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 26 | 3 | |
| Total | 42 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 53 | 5 | |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 2007–08 | 13 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 0 |
| 2008–09 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 14 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 24 | 0 | |
| Borussia Dortmund | 2008–09 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| Total | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | |
| Portsmouth | 2009–10 | 22 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 5 |
| Total | 22 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 5 | |
| Milan | |||||||||
| 2010–11 | 26 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 34 | 3 | |
| 2011–12 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 6 | |
| Total | 33 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 46 | 9 | |
| Career total | 150 | 18 | 20 | 3 | 20 | 3 | 190 | 24 | |
Boateng was born in Germany to a Ghanaian father and a German mother, therefore he was eligible to represent both Germany and Ghana.
Boateng played for the German Under-15, Under-16, Under-19 and Under-21 national teams. His long-distance goal for the Under-19 team in a 2005 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship match against Greece U-19, which Germany U-19 won 3–0, was voted Goal of the Month by viewers of a German TV sports show.[4]
Boateng was offered the chance to play for Ghana in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but declined.[32][33] In March 2007, it was reported that Boateng had told German coach Joachim Löw that he would play for Ghana.[33] The following year Berliner Morgenpost reported that German National Under-21 Coach Dieter Eilts would no longer select Boateng due to incidents that happened in the team's camp during the June 2007 Toulon Tournament in France.[34][35]
In June 2009, Boateng announced that, due to the lack of future chances to play for Germany, he would play instead for Ghana, with an intention to be part of the Ghana national team squad at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In May 2010 FIFA approved his nationality switch application,[36] clearing the way for him to play for Ghana at the World Cup.[37] Boateng made his debut for Ghana in the 1–0 win over Latvia.[38]
Boateng was named in the World Cup squad and on 23 June 2010, played for Ghana against his brother Jérôme Boateng, who was representing Germany; the game ending 1–0 to Germany. This was the first time that two brothers had played for opposing teams in an international match and been on the pitch at the same time.[39] He scored his first goal in a 2–1 win over the United States in the Second Round in Rustenburg's Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace on 26 June.[40]
On 4 November 2011, after nine caps for Ghana, and at the age of 24, Boateng announced his retirement from international football, claiming that playing at such a high level was affecting his health, and he could not cope with the demands.[3]
| Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 26 June 2010 | Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg, South Africa | United States | 1–0 | 2–1 W | 2010 World Cup |
Boateng is usually employed as an attacking midfielder, but he can be employed anywhere across the midfield.[41][42] He has been described as having great energy and an all-action style.[41][42] Boateng stands at 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall and weighs approximately 190 pounds (86 kg).[43]
Boateng has a Ghanaian father and a German mother. His father, Prince Boateng, Sr., left Ghana in 1981 hoping for a break in Germany, where he wanted to study administration, however was unsuccessful and he ended up disc jockeying and working as a waiter. Boateng was one-and-a-half-years-old when his father left the family home. His mother, Catherine Boateng, ended up working long hours to take care of Boateng and his brother George. His paternal uncle is a former member of the Ghana national team and his maternal grandfather is a cousin of legendary German football star Helmut Rahn, scorer of the winning goal in the 1954 FIFA World Cup Final. As well as Boateng's brother, George, he has three maternal half-brothers an two paternal half-brothers, including Jérôme.[44] Both are football players, with the youngest of the three brothers, Jérôme, also having previously been at Hertha BSC and now playing with Bayern Munich and the German national team.[45]
Boateng calls himself "The Ghetto Kid" because he was brought up in the poor Wedding district of Berlin.[46] In official documents, his name is given as Kevin Boateng, but he himself prefers the name Prince and Kevin-Prince in honour of his father, Prince Boateng, Sr. He married his long term girlfriend Jennifer two days after signing with Tottenham Hotspur.[47] Boateng has 26 tattoos.[48]
[...] Here you see Africa and Ghana from my father. [...] "I have the name of my wife and the city of my birth, Berlin on my biceps. "I have two jokers; one is smiling and the other crying. It means laugh now, cry later."
In September 2011, Boateng divorced his German wife Jennifer, ending their four-year marriage, and since the start of October 2011, he has been dating Italian-American model Melissa Satta. Following Boateng's divorce, his ex-wife returned to Germany with their son, Jermaine-Prince.[51]
Earlier on in his career, Boateng developed a serious shopping addiction as a result of personal problems. Boateng claims that he still owns "around 100 59Fifty caps and 100 Billionaire Boys Club caps, around 20 Martin Margiela leather jackets, and 160 pairs of Berluti shoes" following the ordeal.[52] Other things the footballer is known to have bought include a Lamborghini Aventador and a Lamborghini Murciélago, a Hummer H3, and a Cadillac CTS-V. Boateng has since overcome this problem and sold all four of his cars, citing how he, "was broken in another world" due to the effects of it.[53][54]
Boateng enjoys playing tennis, as well as being an avid martial arts fan, for which he has a passion for the martial artists/actors Jean-Claude Van Damme, Michael Jai White and the boxer Muhammad Ali.[55][56] He also likes to unplug and relax while watching a game of American football and basketball whenever he is not playing football.[55] It has also been noted that Boateng is heavily protected by personal bodyguards at all times.[57][58]
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||