Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah says his early substitution of Kevin-Prince Boateng was ‘tactical’ following growing concerns of the star forward’s non-existence in the thrilling 2-2 draw against Germany.

The 27-year-old failed to live up to all the pre-match talks for the game against his former country and brother on Saturday in Fortaleza.

Boateng struggled to make his star impact felt throughout the first half where to be fair, Ghana struggled to retain possession. Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah had Boateng replaced seven minutes into the second half by Jordan Ayew – moments after the Black Stars had fallen behind to a Mario Goetze goal.

Jordan Ayew was a bit more effective after coming on but could have done better especially with golden opportunities falling his way. Coach Kwesi Appiah contrary to thoughts he took off Boateng due to his non-performance says his decision was purely ‘tactical’.

“Kevin is a good player with many qualities but sometimes coaches take off players for tactical reasons,” he said.

“But I think he did very well in the first half.”

Ghana eventually pulled even and even took the lead through Andre Ayew and Asamoah Gyan respectively.

The Black Stars were however undone with poor defending of set pieces as Miroslav Klose tapped in the equalizer to end the game 2-2. Ghana are now left with the hope of a Portugal win over the USA in the other group game to be played on Sunday to remain in contention.