For the first time in World Cup history, siblings may play in the same match — not as team-mates but as opponents. If selected to play, Ghana’s Kevin-Prince Boateng will play against his half brother Jerome Boateng in today’s final match between the Group D teams. Ghana leads the group with four points, while Germany is tied with Serbia for with three points in second, Australia is dead last with one point.
Germany is eager to play Ghana, an enthusiasm fuelled by revenge a previous encounter between two key players. Ghana’s Boateng is the target of said revenge after the centre midfielder tackled Germany’s captain Michael Ballack in the FA Cup, knocking him out of the 2010 World cup after he sustained partially torn ligaments in his right ankle from the incident.
“We are playing Ghana and not Kevin- Prince Boateng” Germany’s general manager Oliver Bierhoff stated to quell rumours of the revenge fuelled match, “Feelings about one person have to be set aside”.
The Boateng brothers have dual German-Ghanian nationality. Boateng, whose legal name is Kevin but the centre midfielder added Prince to honour his Ghanaian father Prince Boateng, was born in Berlin and started his soccer career when he signed for Hertha BSC on the youth team Reinickendorfer Füchse in 2005. As one of the most promising youngster in German soccer, the now 23 year old is known for his “skill and pace complemented by advanced tactical awareness and a powerful physique”.
Athleticism is in his genes, Boateng’s paternal uncle was a Ghana international, and on his maternal side is related to German soccer legend Helmut Rahn, who scored the winning goal in the 1954 World Cup final. “I’m aware I was born with a knack for the game” Boateng has said, “but there are plenty of areas where there is no substitute for hard work”. The Ghanian-German footballer signed with Portsmouth for the 2009-10 seasons, his second English Premier League team, for an estimated £4 million. It was during a Portsmouth game against Chelsea that he committed the foul on Ballack that left him out of the tournament. Boateng apologized for the incident, explaining “I’m sorry, it was not intentional, I just came in too late and made full contact”.
As for his younger brother Jerome, 21, the two have not spoken since the Ballack incident when Jerome refused further contact with his half brother. Kevin-Prince told Media “After the things he said about my foul on Michael Ballack, we fell out. We see the event different.” Jerome did not feel he needed to defend his older brother and believed he deserved the red card he received during the game.
The feud goes deeper than who is on whose side. Jerome and Kevin-Prince are half brothers and once shared a close relationship however have been drifting apart ever since Jerome revealed Kevin made it obvious the two were only related by blood “ Kevin said: ‘Each one of us has his own family – you have yours, I have mine’ That was too much for me. Now I don’t care what he does. It really doesn’t interest me anymore”.
Jerome plays on the German international team and for the English club Manchester City as a defender. Like his brother he has a powerful physic, but his is versatility allows him to play in any defensive position. Jerome’s career began with the youth team Tennis Borussia Berlin, signing with Hertha BSC in 2002 when he was 13. He has since played with Hamburger SV where his skills were finally noticed and he was drafted onto the German World Cup squad for 2010. He signed with Manchester city in June of 2010 for £10 million on a five-year deal