Loew delighted to have Boateng by his side

Lille (France) (AFP) – Germany coach Joachim Loew hailed defender Jerome Boateng as “a good neighbour” for his spectacular goalline clearance during the world champions’ 2-0 win over Ukraine to open their Euro 2016 campaign.

Boateng, whose father is Ghanaian, was the target of right-wing German politician Alexander Gauland this month, who claimed Germans would not want Boateng as their neighbour and that the national team was no longer “German in the classical sense.”

“It is good to have Jerome Boateng as your neighbour in the defence,” said Loew.

“He sees dangerous situations, he reacted and very clearly the ball was not behind the line.”

Boateng’s crucial intervention came at 1-0 after Shkodran Mustafi had headed Germany into an early lead.

And a perfect night for Loew’s men was completed when captain Bastian Schweinsteiger smashed home his first international goal in five years in stoppage time.

Schweinsteiger had only played just 23 minutes since tearing a knee ligament in March before coming on as a very late substitute.

“I am very happy for Bastian,” added Loew.

“After all this work he has done throughout the last weeks and months that he could score the second decisive goal.”kca/tw