Why I chose to switch allegiance to Ghana - Kevin-Prince Boateng explains

Former Ghanaian international, Kevin-Prince Boateng says he, at a point in his career, never saw himself playing for Germany’s senior team despite representing the U-19, U-20 and U-21 respectively at the youth level.

Born in Berlin to a German mother and Ghanaian dad, Boateng represented his birth country from the U19 to U21 where he played in the 2005 UEFA European U-19 Football Championship, 2007 Toulon Tournament in France and the 2009 UEFA European U-21 Football Championship in Sweden.

However, in June 2009, Boateng told the German authorities that he was no longer interested in representing Germany, hence switched nationality to play for Ghana after receiving his Ghanaian passport in May 2010.

According to Boateng, he was destined to play for Germany at the senior level, having represented at the youth levels, but never saw himself there because of his personality.

“I played for German to the U-21 level so it was destined I was going to play for the Germany national team but I didn’t see myself there because I’m a guy who says what he thinks and won’t always do what the coaches tell me to do. Maybe he says ‘play left’ and I will play right because I think it is the better option because of my mentality, so I didn’t see myself there,” Boateng told Vibes with FIVE podcast.

“And they didn’t see, talent wise, no doubt, but character wise, I wasn’t good for the German team. With this back and forth with Germany, our relationship wasn’t good. I didn’t want to go and maybe get the chance to play for the Germany national team and things go South again and the whole country will hate me, so I said I will take the road and play for my black and make them proud,” he added.

However, Kevin’s paternal half-brother Jérôme Boateng, also a professional footballer chose to play for Germany where he represented the U17, U19 and U21 before making his full debut for the senior team in 2009.

Boateng represented Ghana at the 2010 FIFA World Cup and 2014 editions in South Africa and Brazil respectively.

During his four-year stay with the Black Stars of Ghana, he capped 15 times for Ghana and scored two goals before announcing his retirement in August 2023.


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