Milovan Rajevac has hailed Kevin-Prince Boateng's temperament after Ghana's crunch game with Germany.
Portsmouth man praised by Ghana coach for keeping his cool
Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac has hailed the temperament of Kevin-Prince Boateng after coming through the crunch game with Germany.
Boateng was under the spotlight in Wednesday's clash after hitting the headlines for the wrong reasons in last month's FA Cup final against Chelsea.
A foul by the Portsmouth midfielder on Michael Ballack gave the Germany captain an ankle injury which ruled him out the World Cup, where they were due to meet Boateng's Ghana in Group D.
The 23-year-old was vilified in Germany, the country of his birth, and there were even reports his half-brother Jerome Boateng, who is in the Germany squad, had broken off contact with him.
There had been concerns that Kevin-Prince would be targeted by the Germans as they faced Ghana at Soccer City in their final group game.
And although there was nothing of the sort from Joachim Low's men, Boateng still earnt the praise of Rajevac after putting in another positive display.
"Kevin-Prince Boateng played very well," said the Serbian coach.
"It was a fantastic performance, not just in this match but in other matches.
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"It was important not to get cautioned and not to lose his cool. The German players were polite with him and his performance was truly excellent.
"His performance proves we can rely on him in this tournament, so my impression was truly positive as far as he is concerned."
Australia's 2-1 win over Serbia meant Ghana went through to the last 16 on goal difference, despite Germany winning 1-0 to top the group.
That was a big relief for Ghana as they have missed a host of chances and are yet to score from open play.
The Black Stars' two goals so far were both Asamoah Gyan penalties and Rajevac hopes they can put that right when they face USA on Saturday for a place in the quarter-finals.
"We have created wonderful opportunities to score but we have had a bit of bad luck," he said. "Perhaps we were missing a bit of concentration.
"We can't finish it off so hopefully going forward we will score proper, real goals and I'd be very happy to see this in the last 16."
