From ‘zero to hero’ is a common expression that has been used to describe a lot of footballers and it is certainly a tag that can be given to Kevin-Prince Boateng.

The newly capped Ghanaian midfielder was playing reserve team football for Tottenham two years ago, after failing to make the grade at White Hart Line. Now he is one of the darlings of his country after Ghana reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup. His middle name Prince, adorns the back of his shirt for Ghana and that couldn’t be more fitting of how his country regards him after his fantastic World Cup.

He was arguably Ghana’s best player of the tournament and his displays often ran the midfield, his exploits included a stunning goal against the USA in the second round which helped to take them through. Boateng proved to be one of the revelations of the World Cup and the same can be said for his club Portsmouth, who despite their woeful season Boateng managed to come out of it with some credit. He gave his all for the team and he scored the winning goal at Wembley that incredibly took Portsmouth to the final of the FA Cup against Chelsea. In the final however he was guilty of missing a penalty for Portsmouth when the scores were 0-0 and that possibly could have won them the game had he been able to convert it. The FA Cup final also had some implications on the World Cup as Boateng injured Michael Ballack, which ruled him out of the World Cup finals for the nation of Boateng’s birth Germany. As a result his half-brother, Jerome Boateng who is a German international petulantly decided that he no longer wished to speak to Kevin-Prince any more.

Kevin-Prince Boateng didn’t play for Ghana until the week the World Cup was due to commence as he played in Ghana’s 1-0 friendly victory against Latvia at Stadium:mk in England. Boateng started every single game for Ghana in the World Cup, and it’s incredible how such a lynch-pin for team didn’t play a single game for Ghana until just before the start of the tournament. When Boateng moved to Tottenham in 2007 he was highly regarded as a promising youngster, but shortly after his arrival he looked off the pace and not suited to the Premier League. Arguably he didn’t get a fair crack of the whip at Spurs as he only managed 14 appearances for the club. He thrived at Portsmouth this year and after their relegation and money troubles as well as the fact that he had such a good World Cup, means that there is no doubt that he will move on.

It seems as though a move to Italy is in the offing with Genoa and Lazio being linked, and the latest reports claim that the clubs may reach a co-ownership agreement for his services. Whoever does land Boateng this summer will have a talented player at their disposal who has shown that hard work can take you far in football, and it’s nice to see a player who was written off countless times go and make a name for himself and Kevin-Prince Boateng certainly looks like he will be rewarded for his efforts.

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Click on image below to see the SPANISH babes at the World Cup