National team
Kevin-Prince Boateng still sees a lot of work ahead of the DFB-Elf
Hertha’s Kevin Prince Boateng drives his teammates on just before the end of the game. The national player still sees a lot of work ahead of the German soccer team before the home EM. photo
© Soeren Stache/dpa
Kevin-Prince Boateng played twice with Ghana at a World Cup against Germany. Now the Berlin EM ambassador of his hometown. He is not yet writing off the DFB-Elf for their home tournament.
“A lot has to happen for Germany to be top-class next year, for the other teams to be afraid again,” said the 36-year-old at the “One Year to Final” press conference about twelve months before the final of the European Football Championship in Berlin. As a Hertha icon, Boateng is the capital’s EM ambassador.
“The luck that Germany and the national team have is that there is still time. That they can get used to it for another year and then hopefully be 100 percent fit for next year’s European Championship and then show us again who Germany is and what Germany can do,” said the native of Berlin, who played for the German youth national teams but played for Ghana for the men, including at the World Cups in 2010 (0-1) and 2014 (2-2) against Germany.
“The German national team is not the one we know,” said Boateng. You can also see that in the decreased interest of the fans. “It has to do with the fact that they are not playing well at the moment, not bringing any success home.”
The man from Wedding approached his task as EM ambassador for the final venue with the expected great enthusiasm. It’s a huge honor for him, he said. “Berlin will be one hundred percent the best venue. We will give everything for it. We are the best team. It is the most beautiful city in Germany and we will show that.”