Kevin-Prince Boateng

Infobox Football biography
playername = Kevin-Prince Boateng


fullname = Kevin-Prince Boateng
height = height|m=1.84
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1987|3|6
cityofbirth = Berlin
countryofbirth = Germany
currentclub = Tottenham Hotspur
clubnumber =
position = Midfielder
youthyears = 1994
1994–2005
youthclubs = Reinickendorfer Füchse
Hertha Berlin
years = 2004–2007
2005–2007
2007–
clubs = Hertha Berlin II
Hertha Berlin
Tottenham Hotspur
caps(goals) = 29 (5)
43 (4)
13 (0)
nationalyears = 2006–2007
nationalteam = Germany U21
nationalcaps(goals) = 05 (0)
pcupdate = 21:52, 27 May 2008 (UTC)
ntupdate = 09:30, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

Kevin-Prince Boateng (born March 6, 1987 in Berlin) is a German footballer who plays for Tottenham Hotspur of the English Premier League.

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". [cite news | date=2006-01-01 | url=http://www.fifa.com/en/mens/index/0,2527,118660,00.html?comp=U20W&year=2006&articleid=118660 | title=The Prince of Berlin | publisher=FIFA | accessdate=2006-01-01] 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. [cite news | date=2007-07-27 | url=http://www.herthabsc.de/index.php?id=15499 | title=Honour for Hertha youngster | publisher=Hertha BSC | accessdate=2007-07-27] 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 [cite news | date=2006-07-27 | url=http://www.squarefootball.net/article/article.asp?aid=4675 | title=He Should Do Well: Kevin-Prince Boateng | publisher=Square Football | accessdate=2006-07-27] . 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 [cite news | date=2006-01-01 | url=http://www.wflv.de/index.php?id=216&backPID=25&begin_at=885&tt_news=453 | title=DFB verleiht Fritz-Walter-Medaille an die "Nachwuchsspieler des Jahres" | publisher=Wflv.de | accessdate=2006-01-01] 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 [cite news | date=2007-07-31 | url=http://www.uefa.com/competitions/uefacup/news/kind=1/newsid=566232.html | title=Hetha accept Tottenham bid for Boateng | publisher=BBC Sport| accessdate=2007-07-12] [cite news | date=2007-07-12 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/t/tottenham_hotspur/6895929.stm| title=Hertha accept Spurs Boateng bid| publisher=BBC Sport| accessdate=2007-07-12] [cite news | date=2007-07-31 | url=http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/articles/boatengsignsforspurs.html| title=Boateng signs for Spurs| publisher=Tottenham Hotspur F.C.| accessdate=2007-07-31] He had his first start in the Premier League on November 3, 2007 against Middlesbrough F.C., after which a series of further first team performances followed. With the departure of Tottenham manager Martin Jol and the arrival of several high profile players Boateng was pushed out of the team and into the reserves.

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. [cite news | date=2005-07-20 | url=http://www.uefa.com/competitions/under19/history/season=2005/round=1926/match=81123/report=rp.html | title=Greece 0-3 Germany | publisher=UEFA | accessdate=2005-07-20] . This impressive strike was voted Goal of the Month by viewers of a renowned German TV sports show [cite news | date=2006-07-27 | url=http://stats.globesports.com/bund/players.asp?player=34023 | title=No.17 Kevin Boateng | publisher=Hertha BSC | accessdate=2006-07-27] .

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 [cite news | date=2007-03-27 | url=http://www.tagesspiegel.de/sport/;art272,2270285 | title=Die zweite Heimat | publisher=Tagesspiegel.de | accessdate=2007-03-27] [cite news | date=2007-03-27 | url=http://www.stadion.de/viewnews.php?nid=9131 | title=Boateng droht mit Abgang nach Ghana | publisher=stadion.de | accessdate=2007-03-27] .

On 09 September, 2007 "Berliner Morgenpost" reported [cite news | date=2007-09-27 | url=http://www.morgenpost.de/content/2007/09/09/sport/920453.html | title=Boateng übt sich in Geduld | publisher=Berliner Morgenpost | accessdate=2007-09-09] 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. [cite news | date=2007-09-21 | url=http://www.welt.de/sport/article1203123/Wollten_eine_Veraenderung_der_Persoenlichkeiten.html | title="Wollten eine Veränderung der Persönlichkeiten" | publisher=Welt Online | accessdate=2007-09-21]

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 Hull City F.C. midfielder George Boateng) and Jérôme. Both are football players, with the youngest of the three brothers, Jérôme, 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. [cite news | date=2006-08-01 | url=http://www.berlinonline.de/berliner-zeitung/print/sport/674311.html | title=Die große Rotation | publisher=Berliner-Zeitung| accessdate=2006-08-01]

Boateng has thirteen tattoos. [cite news | date=2006-07-12 | url=http://www.tagesspiegel.de/sport/Hertha-Bundesliga;art272,2338991 | title=Good bye, Wedding | publisher=Tagesspiegel | accessdate=2006-07-12] About a tattoo on his biceps 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." [cite news | date=2007-08-10 | url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/sport/football.html?in_article_id=474357&in_page_id=1779 | title=Honeymoon is already over for Spurs new boy Boateng | publisher=DailyMail| accessdate=2007-08-10] He married his long term girlfriend, Jennifer, two days after signing for Spurs.cite web|url=http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=451688&cc=5901 |title=Boateng puts Euro campaign ahead Of Honeymoon |accessdate=2007-08-10 |date=10 August 2007 |work=Author: ESPN |publisher=Soccernet.com]

References

External links

*soccerbase|id=41716|name=Kevin-Prince Boateng
* [http://www.herthabsc.de/index.php?id=11451 Hertha Berlin Profile]
* [http://www.herthabsc.de/index.php?id=1496 Interview on the Hertha Berlin website] de icon