2014 World Cup: German defender Jerome Boateng keen to delay family reunion

Published on: 30 June 2014
2014 World Cup: German defender Jerome Boateng keen to delay family reunion
While Ghana star Kevin-Prince Boateng's tournament ended in a bust-up, Jerome is yet to concede a goal with Germany.

His brother Kevin-Prince may be back home in Germany after being sent home in disgrace by Ghana, but Jerome Boateng has no plans to join him.

The Germany defender said he is confident his side will be at their best in the Round of 16 to progress but remains wary of an Algerian team that "have nothing to lose".

Germany are yet to concede a goal with Boateng on the pitch, with the two goals scored by Ghana in their Group Stage clash coming after his half-time substitution.

The defender said he is confident the star-studded German squad can avoid an upset as they face their second African opposition of the tournament.

"We have magnificent players and loads of quality in the starting line-up and on the bench," Boateng told Fifa.com. "It means we can always vary our play, and every one of us can influence the game at a moment’s notice. That’s definitely a plus. "We’ve done well so far apart from the second half against Ghana. It was end-to-end and totally open, and we didn’t want that. But we performed well against Portugal and USA. Overall, we can be happy enough. At the end of the day we’ve comfortably won our group, and now we want to take the next step against Algeria."

Boateng praised the opposition ahead of today’s clash in Porto Alegre but remained confident Germany's A-game will be enough to reach the quarter-finals and face either France or Nigeria on Friday.

"We’re very focused," he said. "It’ll be a difficult match against tough opponents. They have nothing to lose, and we’ve got to be looking only at ourselves. But I’m convinced we’ll hit peak form and go through."

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