Kevin-Prince Boateng

Boateng had his penalty for Portsmouth saved in the 54th minute, four minutes before Didier Drogba scored Chelsea's winning goal.

Kevin-Prince Boateng (born 6 March 1987) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder or forward.

Born in Germany, he played for the Ghana national team.

Coming through the youth system, Boateng began his career at Hertha BSC, before joining Tottenham Hotspur in England.

After a short loan spell with Borussia Dortmund, Boateng moved to Portsmouth.

Boateng started his club career with the club Reinickendorfer Füchse in early 1994 at age six prior to signing for Hertha BSC on 1 July 1994 at the age of seven, first playing for them until 31 July 2007 when he was 20 years old.

After emerging from the Hertha feeder teams, Boateng played for Hertha BSC II for two seasons.

The hat-trick was the fastest in Serie A since David Trezeguet scored a ten-minute hat-trick for Juventus in 2001.

He was promoted to the Hertha first team squad in the 2005–06 season.

Boateng made his first team debut in a 2–0 win against Eintracht Frankfurt in the second round of the 2005–06 Bundesliga season on 13 August 2005 at the Olympic Stadium, being brought on at the beginning of the second half.

Boateng was awarded the Fritz Walter Bronze Medal Award in the Under-18 category in 2005.

On 27 July 2006, Boateng was awarded the Fritz Walter Gold Medal in the Under-19 category.

Boateng signed a four-year contract with Tottenham Hotspur in July 2007 for a reported £5.4 million, securing him ahead of UEFA Cup holders Sevilla.

His success at the club was limited, and he was loaned to Borussia Dortmund in January 2009 for the remainder of the season.

He made ten Bundesliga appearances during his loan, but was forced to miss the final two matches of the season for a suspension of four matches imposed by the German Football Association (DFB) following a tough challenge and "no-nonsense flying kick" to the head of VfL Wolfsburg's Makoto Hasebe.

Dortmund were eager to sign Boateng permanently at the end of the season, but financial constraints prevented them from doing so.

English Premier League club Portsmouth signed Boateng on a three-year contract in August 2009 for a reported fee of around £4 million.

On 12 September 2009, he scored his first goal for the club against Bolton Wanderers, and was named Portsmouth's joint Player of the Month.

He finished his only season at the club with three goals in 22 Premier League games as they were relegated amidst financial disarray.

In 2010 he joined Serie A side AC Milan, winning both the league and Supercoppa Italiana titles in his first season.

Boateng left Milan after three seasons, returning to Germany joining Schalke 04.

Boateng represented his country of birth internationally at youth level; he opted to represent Ghana at senior level 15 times between 2010 and 2014—scoring two goals—and represented them at the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups.

In May 2010, Portsmouth played Chelsea in the FA Cup Final, which Chelsea won 1–0.

During the match, Boateng fouled Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack, injuring Ballack's ankle and ruling him out of the impending 2010 World Cup.

Boateng claimed that Ballack slapped him in the face prior to this, and that he apologised to Ballack personally for the tackle which left him injured.

Boateng called the German media and the German national team players hypocrites for backing Ballack whilst ignoring his slap on the pitch.

Boateng also criticised Joachim Löw for protecting Ballack after he slapped striker Lukas Podolski in a Germany national football team training match the previous year.

On 17 August 2010, Boateng transferred to Italian Serie A club Genoa on a three-year contract for €5.75 million, (a reported €5.7 million plus the transfer of Anthony Vanden Borre, despite the latter deal falling-through ) and then immediately joined AC Milan on loan.

The deal later became a co-ownership deal in the same transfer window for €5.25 million.

Milan signed Boateng permanently from Genoa in June 2011 for €7 million on a four-year contract due to expire in June 2015.

On 23 October 2011, Boateng came on as a half-time substitute against Lecce and scored three goals in 14 minutes.

Milan had been 3–0 down at half-time, but went on to win the game 4–3.

Boateng is only the second player in the history of Serie A to score a hat-trick after coming on as a substitute.

On 3 January 2013, Milan was playing Italian Lega Pro 2 side Pro Patria in a mid-season friendly when Boateng and several other Milan players were the targets of racist chanting from a section of the Pro Patria crowd.

Boateng reacted by kicking the ball into the stands before leaving the pitch, and was followed off by his teammates.

Boateng started his first Bundesliga match in a 2–2 draw against Borussia Mönchengladbach in the 14th round of the Bundesliga season.

In January 2016 he returned to Milan, remaining for six months, before moving to Spanish club Las Palmas.

Boateng made his third return to Germany in 2017, playing for Eintracht Frankfurt, before joining Italian side Sassuolo.

After a short loan to Barcelona, with whom he won a La Liga title, he moved back to Italy, joining Fiorentina.

In January 2020 he was sent on a six-month loan to Turkish side Beşiktaş, and in September 2020 he moved to Monza.