Derek Owusu Boateng ( ; born 2 May 1983) is a Ghanaian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundari ...

. Born in Ghana, Boateng went on to play professional football in Greece, Sweden, Israel, Germany, Spain, Ukraine, England, and the United States during a career that spanned between 1999 and 2017. A full international between 2001 and 2013, he won 47

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for the Ghana national team and represented his country at the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cups.

Club career

Early career

Boateng was born in Accra, Greater Accra, where he played for the local side

Liberty Professionals Liberty Professionals Football Club is a Ghanaian professional football club based in Dansoman, Accra. History Liberty Professionals, was founded in 1996 by Accra-based businessmen Felix Ansong and Alhaji Sly Tetteh. The club was one of the earl ...

Greece

He signed for Kalamata F.C. in Greece when he was 16. In 2001, Boateng joined another

Greek Super League The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

club Panathinaikos. In 2002, Boateng was unable to keep his place in the Panathinaikos squad and was sent on loan to

OFI Crete OFI may refer to: * Overseas Filipino Investors, Filipino expatriates who contribute to the economy of the Philippines through remittances, buying property, and creating businesses * OFI Crete, a Greek association football club based on the islan ...

AIK

He signed for AIK in August 2003. In the 2004 season, AIK was relegated from Allsvenskan for the third time in the history of the club. In the following season, AIK gained promotion after winning the Superettan, distancing runners-up

Östers IF Östers Idrottsförening, commonly known as Östers IF or simply Öster, is a Swedish sports club located in Växjö, specializing in football, and playing in the second tier of Swedish football, Superettan. The club has previously also compet ...

by nine points. Boateng extended his contract with AIK for one more year until the end of 2007. When he left for

Beitar Jerusalem Beitar Jerusalem Football Club ( he, מועדון כדורגל בית"ר ירושלים, Moadon Kaduregel Beitar Yerushalayim), commonly known as Beitar Jerusalem () or simply as Beitar (), is an Israeli football club based in the city of Jerus ...

, Boateng stated in an interview that he loves Sweden and AIK, and that he one day will come back to Allsvenskan and AIK the team he supports.

Beitar Jerusalem

In July 2006, Boateng signed with Beitar Jerusalem until January 2009. Boateng helped Beitar Jerusalem to win the league for the fifth time in their history, and for the first time for 10 years, contributing four goals in the campaign. The 2007–08 season started off poorly for Boateng, as he got sent off during Beitar Jerusalem's first official game of the season, in leg one of the second qualifying round for the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League, away to

F.C. Copenhagen Football Club Copenhagen ( da, Football Club København, ), commonly known as FC København, FC Copenhagen, Copenhagen or simply FCK, is a professional Danish football club in Copenhagen, Denmark. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on ...

. Beitar Jerusalem lost 2–1 on aggregate and were eliminated. Boateng ended the season with another championship for Beitar Jerusalem. At the Israel State Cup final, Boateng missed a penalty in a thrilling penalty shootout against Hapoel Tel Aviv, but Beitar Jerusalem secured the title with a 5–4 win at the shootout, and secured an historical

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...

. The 2008–09 season started with yet another early elimination at the second qualification round for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

, this time with a 5–0 away defeat to

Wisła Kraków Towarzystwo Sportowe Wisła Kraków Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Wisła Kraków (), is a Polish professional football club based in Kraków. It currently competes in the I liga, the second level of Polish football league system. ...

, and 6–2 in aggregate. Whilst with Beitar, Boateng received financial backing whilst raising a lawsuit against his former agent.

Köln and Getafe

On 21 January 2009, Boateng signed a four-year contract with 1. FC Köln. However, on 31 July 2009, Getafe CF signed him from Köln for one million euros. He stayed at the Spanish club for just over two seasons, making 61 appearances and scoring two goals.

Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk

On 20 June 2011, Boateng completed a move to Ukrainian club

FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Football Club Dnipro ( uk, Футбо́льний Клуб «Дніпро́», ) was a Ukrainian football club based in Dnipro. The club was owned by the Privat Group that also owns BC Dnipro and Budivelnyk Kyiv. In 2018 FC Dnipro was force ...

, signing a four-year contract. For Dnipro Derek mostly played in the 2011–12, while the next season he was side benched by the head coach after playing the first couple of games for the first team. Later after playing some games for the reserve team, Boateng lost interest of playing for the club at all.

Fulham

In May 2013, Boateng confirmed that he had moved on a free transfer to

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

side Fulham on Ghanaian radio. He said, ''"I have signed a two-year deal with Fulham and will be training with them for the first time n Tuesday "I believe it’s a good move and I’m finally happy to see this deal onfirmed"'' Fulham officially confirmed Boateng signed a one-year deal with an option for a further year on 22 May 2013. He featured in the 2013–14 English Premiership opener against Sunderland where he played only 65 minutes and was substituted by

Giorgos Karagounis Georgios Karagkounis ( el, Γεώργιος Καραγκούνης; born 6 March 1977), known as Giorgos Karagounis ( el, Γιώργος Καραγκούνης), is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. In his club ...

Rayo Vallecano and Eibar

After his contract with Fulham expired, Boateng decided to join Spanish club

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924, and currently compete in La Li ...

on 3 June 2014. However, only two months later, he was deemed surplus to requirements by manager

Paco Jémez Francisco "Paco" Jémez Martín (born 18 April 1970) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a central defender. He is the manager of Iranian club Tractor. Over 11 seasons, he played 269 La Liga matches in representation o ...

, and rescinded his link with the

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

outfit on 18 August. Hours after rescinding with Rayo, Boateng signed a one-year deal with fellow league club

SD Eibar Sociedad Deportiva Eibar (in eu, Eibar Kirol Elkartea) is a professional Spanish football club based in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous Basque Country. Founded on 30 November 1940, the team currently plays in the Segunda División, the s ...

. After leaving Eibar, Boateng returned to

to train with them whilst looking for a move in the upcoming transfer window.

Rayo OKC

On 25 January 2016, Boateng signed with expansion side

Rayo OKC Rayo OKC, also known as Rayo Oklahoma City, was an American professional soccer team based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. They joined the North American Soccer League (NASL) – the second tier of the American soccer pyramid – beginning w ...

of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

OFI FC

On 30 January 2017, Boateng signed with Football League side

OFI Crete F.C. OFI Crete Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Όμιλος Φιλάθλων Ηρακλείου 1925, ''Club of Fans of Heraklion 1925''), is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in Heraklion, on the island of Crete. It is a par ...

till the end of the season. It is expected with his experience to help the club in his effort to be promoted in the Superleague Greece.

International career

Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu (Ghana national football team vs

While playing for Panathinaikos in 2001, Boateng also played for the Ghana national football team at the

FIFA World Youth Championship The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 wh ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, in which Ghana progressed to the final. After participating in a friendly with Ghana against French club

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

, he was selected for the Ghana squad at the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

. He made his first

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

appearance on 17 June 2006, when he replaced

Otto Addo Nana Otto Addo (born 9 June 1975) is a German-born Ghanaian football manager and former player. He was recently the manager of the Ghana national football team, and works as a talent coach for Borussia Dortmund. Early life Addo was born on 9 ...

at half-time in the 2–0 win against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. He was also selected for the national team for the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

, in which Ghana progressed to the quarter-finals.

Career statistics

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

Honours

;AIK * Superettan: 2005 ;Beitar Jerusalem *

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League ( he, ליגת העל, ''Ligat Ha`Al'', ), is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Israeli Football League – the state's league of Israel. The league is contested b ...

: 2006–07, 2007–08 * Israel State Cup:

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

;Ghana U20 *

runner-up: 2001 Individual * 2007–08 Israeli Premier League Best Foreign Player of the Year

References

External links