That neighborhood alone has produced so many tremendous talent from the likes of; Anis Ben-Hatira (now Hamburger SV), Ashkan Dejagah (Fulham FC), Chinedu Ede (FSV Mainz 05) and Zafer Yelen (FSV Frankfurt).
Kevin-Prince once said that football was what gave him a way out even though it was a tough way of growing up.
The midfielder still had a lot of the streets in him, when he played for Hertha. As talented as he was, he had problems blending in. His lack of discipline resulted in a jury sentence when he and his teammate Patrick Ebert went on a rampage damaging several cars.
However despite his troubles outside of soccer his performances on the soccer pitch was so spectacular that after 53 matches and five goals for Hertha his first step into professional football would be sealed. So in the summer of 2007 he was transferred to Premier-League-side Tottenham Hotspur for about 7.9 million Euros. He would not really establish himself solidly in London with only two good games for him throughout his stay, so after 1 1/2 years and only 14 league matches appearances, he would be sent back to Germany on a loan to Borussia Dortmund.
Upon his return to Germany he would once again return to his old ways angering a good cross section of the German public with an horrific Kung-Fu-like kick foul against Wolfsburg's Makoto Hasebe for which he would then be suspended for the rest of the season. So he was sent back to England to join Portsmouth FC this time around for the upcoming season. On his second outing in England he would fare on very well reaching the FA-Cup's final, it was at the FA Cup final where he went on to cement his bad-guy image - especially for the German public, because of a foul against Chelsea's Michael Ballack
The anger directed at Boateng was more so because Ballack was the captain of the German national team and the injury he incurred would cause him to miss the 2010 world cup in South Africa - and from today's perspective - it is believed Boateng ended Ballacks career for the national team. Only a couple of months before this incident, Boateng, who represented Germany at U21-level until 2009, decided to join the Black Stars of Ghana for the world cup in South Africa.
In South Africa at the World Cup, he replaced injured star Michael Essien and was one of the key players for Ghana. Having reached the round of 16, he scored his first goal for Ghana against the United States, helping to propel the Black Stars to the quarter finals, where they were horridly eliminated by Uruguay after Luis Suárez' scandalous handball. His World Cup outing gave a major boost to his career.
In late 2011 after a nomination for African footballer of the year in 2010 and being part of Africa's team of the year for two consecutive years, he decided to retire from the Ghanaian team after only nine games.
In the summer of 2012 he was transferred in a dubious deal involving Genoa CFC to AC Milan. Surprisingly for those who doubted his potential he would go on to do very well in Italy and became not only one of the key players, but also one of the most popular ones.
In Italy, Boateng became a star, but he also faced the dark side of racism. It is a known fact that many clubs in Italy have major issues with fan-groups that are filled with racist attitudes. In a friendly against Pro Patria Calcio, he left the field after being repeatedly insulted racially. His teammates followed him and forced the game to be abandoned. Two months later, in March of 2013, he was invited to the United Nations to deliver a speech on the topic of racism, which was well received. What an incredible journey for a young guy, from a rundown neighborhood of Berlin to the United Nations, and today it seems as though more and more people - even in Germany – are acknowledging his transformation and development into a global figure.
In the summer of 2013, having scored important goals to help Milan reach the qualification stage for the Champions League, Bundesliga-side FC Schalke 04 announced the transfer of Boateng. He stated that he was glad being back in his homeland, which had "the best league in the world, and that the best players should play in the best league." Boateng made a stunning performance right from the start, but albeit he was hampered by an injury shortly after.