2014 World Cup: Germany defender Jerome Boateng looking forward to taking on Ghana

Published on: 23 May 2014
2014 World Cup: Germany defender Jerome Boateng looking forward to taking on Ghana
Jerome Boateng

Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng is looking forward to playing against the country of his parents, Ghana – and his older brother Kevin-Prince.

Jerome, 25, who has just completed back-to-back doubles with his Bundesliga club side Bayern Munich, plays his international football for Germany, while the 27-year-old Kevin-Prince has thrown his lot in with Ghana’s Black Stars.

After the two brothers already faced each other at the World Cup in South Africa in 2010, the draw for the 2014 finals again paired Germany with the West Africans.

The two countries are joined by the US and Portugal in Group G and will face each other in the second group game in Fortaleza on June 21.

“Of course playing against Ghana will be special and against my brother makes it even more so. But at the end of the day, it is at the World Cup, so just one game is not the most important thing. You have to win or be second in your group and that is what counts,” he told Kick Socca.

“If we beat Ghana, but lose the other two matches and are eliminated, we will have achieved nothing. We want to go far at the World Cup. That is our aim and that is what we want to achieve.”

A long season

Although Boateng played in close to 50 matches this season, he is still looking forward to extending his season as long as possible.

“The World Cup is always something special and it is the highlight of any player,” added Boateng.

“That means that you will hardly hear a player complain that the season is too long and that he is exhausted and can’t play. I can’t wait for the World Cup to start.”

After securing a historic treble (domestic double and Champions League) last season, Bayern fell short at the semi-final stage of the Champions League against Real Madrid this time around and was criticized by parts of the German media.

Boateng will have none of that though. “We set all kinds of records, were the earliest champions and then won the cup against Dortmund. Beating Dortmund in the final turned a good season into a very good one.”

He created Bayern’s first goal in the cup final in extra-time when his pass found Dutch international Arjen Robben, who slotted home. Thomas Mueller’s second goal in injury time simply put the game beyond Dortmund.

Boateng is now hoping that his season goes from very good to excellent. For that to happen, Germany needs to advance from the group stage, even if it means doing it at the expense of his own brother.

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