Dubai: AC Milan midfielder Kevin Prince Boateng said England manager Fabio Capello was just "having a bad day" when he swiped at Germany's ‘foreign' players in the same breath as excusing his own dual-national Danny Welbeck.
On Thursday Capello took umbrage at the Germans for fielding players of Turkish origin at last summer's World Cup when speaking at the Dubai International Sports Conference. But when Brit-Ghanaian Welbeck's name was mentioned, the Italian coach said it was a different story.
Genuine
Capello's excuse was that Welbeck was born and brought up in England and already attached to an English club.
But, taking the wind out of the Italian's sails was the fact that both Serdar Tasci and Mesut Ozil were also born and brought up in Germany and attached to German teams.
While the England manager's complaint was genuinely aimed at clubs who poach foreign youth and give them citizenship with their new-found residence, his examples against the trend were seriously flawed.
Berlin-born Boateng, 24, who is of German-Ghanaian descent and has played for Ghana despite the fact his brother Jerome represents Germany, saw the funny side of Capello's gaffe.
"He said that? I don't know maybe he just had a bad day. Maybe he didn't wake up so well.
"For me they [Ozil and Tasci] are both German, they think German, they live in Germany and they play for the German national team with all their heart, so I don't know what he means," he said.
"Of course where you are born is where you belong, usually. This is how the world is these days. It's more multi-cultural, all the players that aren't 100 per cent German can give something to the squad. As I see it Ozil, my brother or Serdar can give something exotic to the game."
Better examples for Capello's gripe would have been Gael Kakuta at Chelsea and Manchester United's Paul Pogba.
Both were purchased from respective French clubs Lens and Le Harve aged just 16. Five years in the UK would entitle them to British citizenship, hence they could choose which national team they play for.
Politically incorrect
However, Capello's unfounded attack on Germany, who fielded 11 players of mixed heritage at the last World Cup, was politically incorrect since all were German born-and-bred despite their varied bloodlines.
Boateng played for Germany's youth set-up, but acquired Fifa approval to represent Ghana's senior team after ‘negative incidents' on tour with Germany in 2007. He has since also boycotted Ghanaian representation, citing his club and country responsibilities as too demanding.
Boateng said: "At the beginning I chose to play for Germany, but so many circumstances came that I decided to play for Ghana. This is how life and football is. It can change from day-to-day.
"Of course I feel German and of course I feel Ghanaian, because I am half-half. I was born in Germany and I lived in Germany. But inside of me is 100 per cent Ghanaian."
Asked if he thought smaller nations would miss their potential star players who opted to be German instead, Boateng said: "Of course. They are all high-quality players, but at the end of the day a player [of mixed heritage] decides where he wants to play and all the other country's people have to respect and accept it."
Match with PSG: Catch the action
Kevin Prince Boateng is in Dubai with the AC Milan team from December 29 to January 7 for their annual winter training camp. They will play French side Paris Saint-Germain on January 4 at 7.30pm at Al Ahli's Rashid Stadium in the Dubai Football Challenge. Tickets are available at Timeout Tickets and Virgin Megastores. Purchases can also be made at Al Ahli Club each evening from 5-7pm during winter training at the stadium. Training sessions are free and open to the public. Tickets for the match cost Dh50 for children and Dh100 for adults.
The line-up: Milan players in Dubai
-Goalkeepers: Abbiati, Amelia, Roma, Piscitelli.
-Defenders: De Sciglio, Nesta, Thiago Silva, Abate, Bonera, Zambrotta, Antonini, Mexes, Taiwo, Rodrigo Ely.
-Midfielders: Valoti, Nocerino, Aquilani, Ambrosini, Carmona, Gattuso, Van Bommel, Emanuelson, Seedorf, Boateng.
-Forwards: Pato, Ibrahimovic, Inzaghi, Robinho, Al Shaarawy.
-Injured and not attending: Cassano, Flamini and Yepes
