Boateng's Ghana career a controversial stop-start affair

By Brian Homewood BRASILIA (Reuters) - Kevin-Prince Boateng's Ghana career has been an on-off affair in which, coincidence or not, his commitment to the Black Stars has tended to peak just before World Cups. The German-born midfielder was suspended from the World Cup squad on Thursday along with team mate Sulley Muntari, hours before a crucial group match against Portugal, after clashing with coach Kwesi Appiah and a Ghana Football Association official. It was another twist in the turbulent career of a player who has been involved in a number of controversies, yet also won admiration for what many saw as a courageous stand in the fight against racism. Eighteen months ago while playing for AC Milan in a friendly at a lower league game, Boateng reacted to racist chanting from the stands by collecting the ball, kicking it into the crowd and walking off. His team mates followed and the game was abandoned. His gesture, described as "courageous" by FIFA president Sepp Blatter, sparked a debate about racism in Italian football and a decision to allow public security officials to halt games in the case of similar incidents. Boateng, who has a Ghanaian father, was also invited to join FIFA's task force against racism and gave a speech at the United Nations. "It's not simply an argument for the history channel or something that belongs to the past or something that only happens in other countries," he told his audience. "Racism is real, it exists here and now." Raised in one of Berlin's toughest neighbourhoods, the polyglot Boateng started his career with Hertha Berlin and went on to play for Tottenham Hotspur, Borussia Dortmund, Portsmouth, AC Milan and now Schalke 04. He briefly became one of the most unpopular men in Germany after the 2010 FA Cup final between Portsmouth and Chelsea when a tackle on Michael Ballack resulted in an injury which ruled the Germany captain out of the World Cup. Boateng himself played for Germany at various youth levels but then opted to play for Ghana, just in time for the 2010 showpiece in South Africa. His performance in South Africa helped him with a move to Milan where he enjoyed two good seasons. However, in 2011, he angered Ghana supporters by announcing his international retirement "in order to remain healthy and stay off any injuries," according to the Ghana FA. The decision came just before the 2012 African Nations Cup in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, which would have caused him to miss a month of the Serie A season. ANGRY REACTION This prompted angry reaction in the West African nation and led to a discussion over the use of foreign-based players. Some commentators said that Ghana had become over-dependent on foreign-based players, who often chose to play for the country when they were unable to win a place in other national teams for which they are qualified. But one year ago, he announced he was making himself available again for selection at the same time as Ghana were comfortably on course for World Cup qualification. He told the BBC in an interview that injuries had prevented him from playing more international football. "I can't come if I'm injured. I want to be 100 percent; I want to give everything when I come to play for Ghana,” he said. "Social networking sites are an easy way to insult people. People have sent me messages saying that they are praying for me to get injured. "Such messages are not nice because I love playing football; I love playing for my club, I love playing football for Ghana." Appiah said he needed Boateng’s experience. "It is always good to have some experienced players in your team and the most important thing is making sure they are fully fit for the tournament," he said before the tournament, also referring to Michael Essien. "As everyone knows they both have a lot of experience and with them - and the youth around them - I believe we have a very good team."