World Cup brings feuding brothers together
Martin Rogers
JOHANNESBURG – Brothers Jerome and Kevin-Prince Boateng had their relationship torn apart by the World Cup. On Wednesday, soccer’s showpiece event will make them enemies for 90 minutes. But when the tournament is over, it will help bring them back together again.
At Soccer City, on the edge of Soweto, the Boatengs will become the first pair of brothers to play on opposite sides in a World Cup match when Germany faces Ghana.
Jerome is a midfielder with Germany. Kevin-Prince plays in attack for Ghana. They haven’t spoken in a month.
The Boatengs grew up in Berlin and are actually half-brothers, with a common father who hails from Ghana. They each were brought up by their mothers, separately, but were inseparable throughout childhood and into the early stages of their professional soccer careers.
That all changed on May 15, when Kevin-Prince hacked down Germany captain Michael Ballack while playing for Portsmouth against Chelsea in the English FA Cup final. The tackle ruptured Ballack’s ankle ligaments, ruled him out of the tournament and infuriated the German nation.
Ballack is a national hero in Germany and was seen as being crucial to the country’s hopes of tasting glory in South Africa this summer. The depth of negative feeling was such that German fans in Johannesburg have been spotted with T-shirts reading: “Wanted Dead or Alive – Kevin-Prince Boateng.”
Jerome Boateng publicly defended Kevin-Prince from the criticism but angered his brother by saying the tackle warranted a red card.
“We have not spoken since,” Kevin-Prince Boateng said. “I wasn’t happy about that and I said we should go our separate ways. But after the game I will see him, I will hug him and I will shake his hand. It is the World Cup. It is a good time to put things behind you.”
Jerome is quieter and more unassuming than his brother. He is soft spoken and doesn’t much care for the spotlight. Kevin-Prince likes fast cars, controversial Tunisian rap music and has tattoos covering much of his body.
Both men had the option to play for Germany or Ghana, with Kevin-Prince opting for the African nation after complaining about limited opportunities in his homeland.
If Serbia beats Australia in the other Group D match, held simultaneously, then it will be impossible for both brothers to qualify for the knockout stage. For one of them, the dream will end in the very venue where this tournament began and where it will end on July 11.
And at the end of it all, they will reconcile: Two different boys, joined by blood, ending their feud and settling their differences.
“Strange things happen within families,” Jerome Boateng said. “In any family there will be times when people have problems and issues – and that is what happened with us.
“I think and hope that it will sort itself out. We have always been close. He is my brother. I wish him all the best, always.
“We had a difference of opinion about something that happened in football. I don’t think this is going to last forever, I think we are going to fix this.”