| 03.10.2009 |
|
||||||||
| Running around on a rubbery artificial pitch in the cold of Moscow may not be most people's idea of a dream vacation. But Jerome Boateng has nothing against the idea -- he's the latest newcomer called up by Germany coach Joachim Loew to the national squad. Readers in England might be rubbing their eyes after reading this so let me explain. I'm not talking about Kevin-Prince Boateng, the Portsmouth midfielder who bombed with Tottenham, but rather his younger half-brother, the Hamburg defender. I watched both a lot at the start of their professional careers in Berlin, where they grew up in a German-Ghanaian family. Kevin was prodigious talent, whose lack of effectiveness on the pitch was equaled only by his ability to get into trouble off of it. Jerome was less flamboyant, but built of far sterner stuff. Both big and fast, he can be deployed either in central defense or on the right-hand side. He's very good with long-range opening passes and has the ball skills to be able to push up the field as well. He was a major reason why the German under-21 team captured its first-ever European Championship this summer, and he also proved his worth in Hamburg's win against Bayern a week ago. Not only did Jerome help stymie Bayern star-studded midfield. No one in the Munich squad could stop him penetrating -- and only a world-class save by keeper Joerg Butt kept him from getting on the score sheet and notching his first-ever Bundesliga goal. So Loew has picked a winner, I think. And don't be surprised if this still relatively obscure defender ends up playing a significant role for Germany in next year's World Cup. Meanwhile, Kevin-Prince is trying to secure a spot on Ghana's national side. He must be wondering precisely when it was that his little brother left him in his dust. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
| 0 Comments |