team.dfb.de regularly presents a player from Germany’s first team who faces an unusual weekend in the Bundesliga. This week, Jérome Boateng and Bayern Munich feature in Saturday’s headline match (live on Sky from 18:30 CET) against FC Schalke 04, a team that includes his half-brother, Kevin-Prince Boateng.
Jérome Boateng steps off the bus. The sun is shining, the sky is blue; the German international is wearing a cap on his head and a broad smile on his face. He is in a great mood, even with a crucial match ahead. He is too excited to be nervous, treating his commitments on a football pitch with the same composure as his social ones.
It is Wednesday in Munich, and the playground of the Willy Brandt Gesamtschule in Hasenbergl has been transformed into a stage. Boateng is here to promote UNESCO’s “Living a Dream” donation project to support children in Brazil. The school is one of the campaign’s partners and has raised €739.04. “We want to build a school in Rio for children who dream of playing football,” said the defender, adding: “More than six million children live on the streets there.”
Jérome Boateng committed to “Mitternachtssport Berlin”
In the build up to last November’s international match against Italy, Boateng told DFB.de that he would like to get involved with charitable work in Brazil, and now he is turning those words into action. “I can’t save the world,” he said at the time, but he is increasingly aware of his responsibility to make use of the opportunities his popularity generates. “Of course, I’m trying to give something back where I can,” Boateng said.
It is for this reason that he accepts the spotlight, something he would ordinarily prefer to avoid. His efforts for society’s more vulnerable members go far beyond the UNESCO project. When adding up Boateng’s titles, there is one more honour to add to the quintuple of the German Championship, DFB Cup, Champions League, Super Cup and Club World Cup. Kevin-Prince and George Boateng’s little brother serves as a “Big Brother” to many young people in Berlin. In 2007, he founded the “Mitternachtssport Berlin” club (“Berlin Midnight Sport”) with social worker Ismail Öner and supports the initiative as a “Big Brother”, the name given to the professionals who help out at the club.
“Mitternachtssport” opens gymnasiums for children and young people at night, an excellent initiative that has already been awarded the “Bambi” award for integration last year. Boateng could be handed his seventh title next Tuesday, when his club will be one of three nominees hoping to be awarded the DFB- and Mercedes-Benz Integration Prize.
Boateng is delighted with the recognition, but is keen to downplay his role in the scheme’s success. “It isn’t down to me that we’re getting this acclaim,” he said. “I don’t want to exaggerate my contribution. First and foremost, I’m a footballer and that’s where my focus lies.”
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team.dfb.de regularly presents a player from Germany’s first team who faces an unusual weekend in the Bundesliga. This week, Jérome Boateng and Bayern Munich feature in Saturday’s headline match (live on Sky from 18:30 CET) against FC Schalke 04, a team that includes his half-brother, Kevin-Prince Boateng.
Jérome Boateng steps off the bus. The sun is shining, the sky is blue; the German international is wearing a cap on his head and a broad smile on his face. He is in a great mood, even with a crucial match ahead. He is too excited to be nervous, treating his commitments on a football pitch with the same composure as his social ones.
It is Wednesday in Munich, and the playground of the Willy Brandt Gesamtschule in Hasenbergl has been transformed into a stage. Boateng is here to promote UNESCO’s “Living a Dream” donation project to support children in Brazil. The school is one of the campaign’s partners and has raised €739.04. “We want to build a school in Rio for children who dream of playing football,” said the defender, adding: “More than six million children live on the streets there.”
Jérome Boateng committed to “Mitternachtssport Berlin”
In the build up to last November’s international match against Italy, Boateng told DFB.de that he would like to get involved with charitable work in Brazil, and now he is turning those words into action. “I can’t save the world,” he said at the time, but he is increasingly aware of his responsibility to make use of the opportunities his popularity generates. “Of course, I’m trying to give something back where I can,” Boateng said.
It is for this reason that he accepts the spotlight, something he would ordinarily prefer to avoid. His efforts for society’s more vulnerable members go far beyond the UNESCO project. When adding up Boateng’s titles, there is one more honour to add to the quintuple of the German Championship, DFB Cup, Champions League, Super Cup and Club World Cup. Kevin-Prince and George Boateng’s little brother serves as a “Big Brother” to many young people in Berlin. In 2007, he founded the “Mitternachtssport Berlin” club (“Berlin Midnight Sport”) with social worker Ismail Öner and supports the initiative as a “Big Brother”, the name given to the professionals who help out at the club.
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“Mitternachtssport” opens gymnasiums for children and young people at night, an excellent initiative that has already been awarded the “Bambi” award for integration last year. Boateng could be handed his seventh title next Tuesday, when his club will be one of three nominees hoping to be awarded the DFB- and Mercedes-Benz Integration Prize.
Boateng is delighted with the recognition, but is keen to downplay his role in the scheme’s success. “It isn’t down to me that we’re getting this acclaim,” he said. “I don’t want to exaggerate my contribution. First and foremost, I’m a footballer and that’s where my focus lies.”
Duel against half-brother Kevin-Prince awaits
After visiting the school in North Munich, Boateng’s full attention returns to Bayern and their next opponents. On Saturday, the treble-winners and league leaders face fourth-placed Schalke (live on Sky from 18:30 CET), and Jérome Boateng will line up against Kevin-Prince Boateng.
“It’s important for us to collect more points in the Bundesliga,” said Jérome, before adding: “But it’s always special to play against my brother.” The word ‘always’ says it all; playing against each other is no longer an unusual event. Four years ago at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, it was an entirely different story. Germany played Ghana in the group stages and for a moment it seemed as if the entire world was watching two players: Jérome and Kevin-Prince Boateng. The story was too good to ignore: two half-brothers from Berlin, one family, two countries.
History will repeat itself once more at this summer’s World Cup, with Germany drawn against Ghana in the group stages and brother pitted against brother once more. The match in Fortaleza on 21 June will be the fifth competitive match in which both team sheets have contained the name Boateng.
This tale of sibling rivalry began in April 2009, when Kevin-Prince was loaned out to Dortmund by Tottenham and played in the Borussia side that defeated Jérome’s then-employer Hamburger SV. Their second encounter was at the South Africa World Cup, while the third took place in the Bundesliga. Since the start of the season, Kevin-Prince has played for Schalke, with Bayern winning 4-0 in Gelsenkirchen before the winter break. This gives Jérome a 2-1 head-to-head lead heading into Saturday evening’s fourth sibling battle.
“We stay in contact as we usually do”
Such matches no longer spark excitement within the Boateng family, and the brothers do not see the match as a reason to break from their usual routine. “We stay in contact as we usually do,” said Jérome in an interview with the Münchner Merkur newspaper. “We don’t tease each other about it like everyone expects.” He makes it clear that he would prefer to discuss Bayern’s opponents in general rather than speaking specifically about his brother, and holds the Gelsenkirchen side in high regard. “You’ve got to admit that Schalke have significantly raised their game since the winter break,” he says. “They’re reaping the fruits of their efforts in training. Our old assistant coach Peter Hermann is there now. You can see how much their passing game and teamwork has improved, too.”
Boateng made these remarks before Wednesday evening, when Schalke slumped to a 6-1 defeat against Real Madrid in the last 16 of the Champions League. It remains to be seen whether that result will help or hinder Bayern; after all, there is often nothing more dangerous than a wounded animal. Jérome, too, knows that Kevin is never more motivated than when his back is against the wall. “I’ve lost the last two matches I’ve played,” Kevin-Prince told Sport Bild, “so I’m determined to put a stop to that.” Both brothers would like to feature on the same team again one day, as they did at Hertha BSC. “We want to play together again eventually,” said Kevin-Prince. “We’ve talked about it before.”
