Derek Boateng

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Derek Boateng (born 2 May 1983 in Accra, Ghana) is a midfielder for Beitar Jerusalem FC.
Originally a striker or winger, Boateng has moved further down the pitch and is currently considered a defensive midfielder in his club, due to the position slightly behind the other midfielders he tends to have during the game. While he is not a traditional holding midfielder, his ability to hold the ball and make the opening passes makes him suitable for that position.

Boateng grew up in Accra, and joined the youth academy of local side Liberty Professionals at the age of 10 in 1993. Among his team mates were Michael Essien. At the age of 16 he signed for Kalamata FC in Greece.
Kalamata stopped him from appearing in the Football Under-17 World Championship in 1999 in New Zealand.

In 2001 he signed for Panathinaikos, one of the leading Greek clubs.

The same year he played for Ghana national football team at the FIFA World Youth Championship in Argentina, where he took his country to the final. He was named one of the rising stars of the tournament.

As assistant manager for Manchester United, Steve McClaren had seen Boateng play against Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League, and when McClaren became the manager of Middlesbrough F.C. in 2002, he tried to sign him. Panathinaikos accepted, but as he was not playing regularly for the Ghana national football team national team, he was unable to receive a work permit.

In the 2002 Boateng was unable to keep his place in the Panathinaikos squad, and was sent on loan to OFI Crete, another Greek team, in which he had a terrible time.

His Swedish agent, Patrik Mörk, suggested that he could join AIK Fotboll, and after months of negotiations he signed
for AIK Fotboll in August 2003.

His first time in AIK Fotboll was tough, he got injured in his first game, and was never able to fully recover that season.

The 2004 season saw AIK Fotboll relegated from Allsvenskan for only the third time in the history of the club. Boateng, the rest of the squad and organisation received massive criticism from both media and AIK fans, requiring police escort from the arena several times when AIK Fotboll had performed poorly. After the October loss against Örgryte, relegation was unavoidable, and Boateng fell to the ground crying.

The 2005 season was his major breakthrough at his current side. Before the start of that campaign he was deemed an unaffordable expense and used his pre-season training trotting around Europe in search of a new club. He failed in this mission and remained at AIK Fotboll.

He was considered unfit by manager Rikard Norling and only got to play regular season matches after committing to an extensive physical training program. After this he got more and more match time and became a regular in the first-team line-up during the second half of the season. Interestingly the team never lost with Boateng on the pitch, either as a substitute or in the starting line-up. AIK Fotboll gained promotion after winning the Superettan in style, distancing runners-up Östers IF by nine points.

Boateng continued to perform well in the spring season of 2006, and after participating in a friendly with Ghana against French club Nice, he was selected for the Ghana national football team at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He also extended his contract with AIK for one more year until the end of 2007.

He made his first FIFA World Cup appearance on 17 June 2006, when he replaced Otto Addo at half-time in the 2-0 win against Czech Republic national football team.

In July 2006, he signed with Beitar Jerusalem until June 2009.

On March 2007, Derek Boateng made his first appearance in Sweden since he left AIK Fotboll for Beitar Jerusalem. In a post-match interview he stated that he miss the club - it's fans, coaches and players. He still keeps in touch with some of the players, and said that AIK Fotboll are always going to have a special place in Boateng's heart.

Honors and awards

Club

- Ligat ha'Al with Beitar Jerusalem F.C. Winner: 2007, 2008.
- Israel State Cup with Beitar Jerusalem F.C.: 2008.

National team

- FIFA World Youth Championship Runner-up: 2001