Kevin-Prince Boateng Biography

Kevin-Prince Boateng's career is a perfect example of how important one´s environment is to becoming a successful athlete. He had to choose between two national teams (Ghana and Germany) and was hated by an entire nation because of one stupid mistake.

Beginnings

Kevin-Prince Boateng was born on March 6th, 1987 in Berlin, Germany. He is the son of Ghanaian Prince Boateng, Sr., and German Christine Rahn. Boateng's brother Jérôme is also a professional soccer player and is currently playing for German record champion* Bayern Munich.

Bayern Munich holds the record for the most German championships.

Prince Boateng started his career playing for German Bundesliga team Hertha BSC Berlin. His coaches were intrigued by his skills. He won the U17 national championship in 2003.

Boateng made his Bundesliga debut on August 13th, 2005 in a game against Frankfurt. He was expected to be the new superstar of German soccer.

The large European team Tottenham Hotspur signed him in the summer of 2007, paying about $9 million for him.

Tottenham Hotspur

Kevin-Prince Boateng's first season at Spurs was not very successful for him personally. He made his debut on November 3rd, 2007 and appeared in 13 games.

The following season would become even worse for Boateng. Tottenham signed a new coach in the summer of 2008, and Boateng played only 1 game before he moved on loan to Borussia Dortmund in January 2009.

Dortmund's coach wanted to sign him after the loan ended, but the price for Boateng was too high.

Portsmouth FC

Tottenham told him to leave the club and Boateng moved to Portsmouth FC. He played a good season, scoring his first Premier league goal in his first game for Portsmouth and leading Portsmouth into the final of the FA* Cup.

England's Football Association Challenge Cup, almost always referred to as the FA Cup.

Kevin-Prince Boateng will never forget that final. First he missed a penalty, and, a few minutes later, he fouled Michael Ballack, costing the captain of the German national team his participation in the World Cup due to a ligament injury. This made Boateng one of the most hated persons in Germany.*

Boateng moved to Italy in 2010.

*Kevin-Prince Boateng also managed to injure Michael Ballack in the English Cup during the 2009/2010 season.

Genoa/AC Milan

Boateng moved to Genoa but never played for them because they immediately sent Boateng to AC Milan on loan. Milan got 50% of Boateng´s transfer rights. Milan was the team that wanted to sign Boateng. They did not have money to sign him, so they decided to let Genoa sign Boateng for them.

He made his Serie A debut on August 29th, 2010 when he was substituted. One year later, AC Milan paid about $8 million for the other 50% of the transfer rights.

Boateng's performances have become much better since playing for Milan. He says the reason for this is that he feels that the fans love him. This makes him feel home.