Kevin-Prince Boateng

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Kevin-Prince Boateng
Personal information
Full name Kevin-Prince Boateng
Date of birth March 6, 1987 (1987-03-06) (age 21)
Place of birth    Berlin, Germany
Height 1.84 m (6 ft +1⁄2 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current club Tottenham Hotspur
Number 17
Youth clubs
1994
1994–2005		 Reinickendorfer Füchse
Hertha Berlin
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
2004–2007
2005–2007
2007–		 Hertha Berlin II
Hertha Berlin
Tottenham Hotspur
 29 (5)
43 (4)
13 (0)   
National team2
2006– Germany U21 05 (0)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 21:52, 27 May 2008 (UTC).
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 09:30, 23 February 2008 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)

Kevin-Prince Boateng (born March 6, 1987 in Berlin) is a German football player who currently plays for Tottenham Hotspur in England.

Contents

[edit] Club career

A player with dual German-Ghanaian nationality, Boateng is a central midfielder. He has been described as having "skill and pace complemented by advanced tactical awareness and a powerful physique".[1] He started his career with the youth club Reinickendorfer Füchse and signed for Spurs, after spending thirteen years at Hertha Berlin.

Boateng 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, but he won a call-up to the first team squad in the 2005-06 season. He made his debut against Eintracht Frankfurt, in round 2 of the 2005-06 Bundesliga season, being brought on at the start of the second half. He impressed during that game, and was on the fringe of the first team from then on, despite barely being 18 years old. Boateng continued his rise, and started his first Bundesliga game in the 2-2 draw against Borussia Mönchengladbach in round 14 of the Bundesliga season.

Boateng identifies Pelé and Rivaldo as his role models, occasionally imitating the Brazilian duo with crowd-pleasing moments. [2] His love of playing to the gallery draws applause, but has also attracted a fair share of criticism too. The Germany Under 19 coach, Uli Stielike, said about him: "At senior level, Kevin will need to wean himself off the world of fantasy football". He has since cut down on those antics.

On 27 July 2006, Boateng won the Fritz Walter Gold medal award and the title of 2006 Best Young Player in Germany. A jury consisting of German Football Association (DFB), youth coaches and members of the DFB Board, put Boateng top of the poll [3]. Sport director Matthias Sammer and DFB coach Horst Hrubesch honored the talented player with the gold prize winner award and the 20,000 Euro prize-money [4] at the Stadtbauraum, Gelsenkirchen in Germany on August 16, 2006. He also a won the Bronze Medal award in 2005.

Boateng signed for Tottenham Hotspur on 31 July, 2007, for a reported fee of £4.5million[5][6][7]

Boateng had his first start in the Premier League on November 3, 2007 against Middlesbrough F.C..


[edit] International career

The midfielder has played several times for the German Under-16, Under-19 and Under-21 national teams, hitting the headlines on 20 July 2005 after netting a 47th minute goal from inside the center circle over 45 yards in a 2005 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship game against Greece which Germany won 3-0.[8]. This impressive strike was voted Goal of the Month by viewers of a renowned German TV sports show[9].

Boateng was offered the chance to play for Ghana in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but declined. The Hertha Berlin manager, Dieter Hoeness praised Boateng for turning down Ghana and opting to play for Germany. On 27 March 2007 it was reported in the German media that Boateng had told German coach Joachim Löw that he would play for Ghana[10][11].

On 09 September 2007 Berliner Morgenpost reported[12] that German National U21 Coach Dieter Eilts does not select Boateng anymore because of negative incidents that happened in the team's Camp during the June 2007 Toulon tournament in France.[13]

[edit] Personal life

Boateng has a German mother and a Ghanaian father. His uncle is a former Ghana international and his grandfather is a cousin of legendary German star Helmut Rahn, scorer of the winning goal in the 1954 FIFA World Cup. He has two brothers: George (not the current Middlesbrough midfielder George Boateng) and Jérôme. Both are football players, with the youngest of the three brothers, Jérôme Boateng also having previously been at Hertha and now playing in Germany with Hamburger SV. Boateng calls himself "The Ghetto Kid" because he was brought up in the poor Wedding district of Berlin[14].

Boateng has thirteen tattoos[15]. About a tattoo on his bicep he has said, "Here you see Africa and Ghana from my father,". Adding, "I have the name of my wife and my home town, Berlin. I have two jokers, one is smiling and the other crying. It means laugh now, cry later."[16]. He married his long term girlfriend, Jennifer, two days after signing for Spurs[17].

[edit] References

  1. ^ "The Prince of Berlin", FIFA, 2006-01-01. Retrieved on 2006-01-01. 
  2. ^ "Honour for Hertha youngster", Hertha BSC, 2007-07-27. Retrieved on 2007-07-27. 
  3. ^ "He Should Do Well: Kevin-Prince Boateng", Square Football, 2006-07-27. Retrieved on 2006-07-27. 
  4. ^ "DFB verleiht Fritz-Walter-Medaille an die "Nachwuchsspieler des Jahres"", Wflv.de, 2006-01-01. Retrieved on 2006-01-01. 
  5. ^ "Hetha accept Tottenham bid for Boateng", BBC Sport, 2007-07-31. Retrieved on 2007-07-12. 
  6. ^ "Hertha accept Spurs Boateng bid", BBC Sport, 2007-07-12. Retrieved on 2007-07-12. 
  7. ^ "Boateng signs for Spurs", Tottenham Hotspur F.C., 2007-07-31. Retrieved on 2007-07-31. 
  8. ^ "Greece 0-3 Germany", UEFA, 2005-07-20. Retrieved on 2005-07-20. 
  9. ^ "No.17 Kevin Boateng", Hertha BSC, 2006-07-27. Retrieved on 2006-07-27. 
  10. ^ "Die zweite Heimat", Tagesspiegel.de, 2007-03-27. Retrieved on 2007-03-27. 
  11. ^ "Boateng droht mit Abgang nach Ghana", stadion.de, 2007-03-27. Retrieved on 2007-03-27. 
  12. ^ "Boateng übt sich in Geduld", Berliner Morgenpost, 2007-09-27. Retrieved on 2007-09-09. 
  13. ^ ""Wollten eine Veränderung der Persönlichkeiten"", Welt Online, 2007-09-21. Retrieved on 2007-09-21. 
  14. ^ "Die große Rotation", Berliner-Zeitung, 2006-08-01. Retrieved on 2006-08-01. 
  15. ^ "Good bye, Wedding", Tagesspiegel, 2006-07-12. Retrieved on 2006-07-12. 
  16. ^ "Honeymoon is already over for Spurs new boy Boateng", DailyMail, 2007-08-10. Retrieved on 2007-08-10. 
  17. ^ Boateng puts Euro campaign ahead Of Honeymoon. Author: ESPN. Soccernet.com (10 August 2007). Retrieved on 2007-08-10.

[edit] External links

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