It’s a shame Boateng got injured, there’s no way he’ll recover from that, his World Cup is over.” So said Kevin Keegan on ITV following Ghana’s 2-1 victory over the USA. Indeed when Kevin Prince Boateng was substituted in the 78th minute with a hamstring injury, it didn’t look good. But five days later and he’s bombing around in training like a spring chicken on heat. Reports in the Serbian media have suggested that the so-called ‘placenta guru’ Mirijana Kovecevic was flown into South Africa to treat the Ghana players. After witnessing Boateng’s miraculous recovery, I asked Nenad Glisic, the coach’s translator if these stories are true.” Of course,” he said. “Do you want to meet her?” Five minutes later I’m escorted into her room where she was working on striker Kwadwo Asamoah and Boateng. “Pleased to meet you, I am the witch from Serbia”, she says laughing. In her early forties, the pharmacologist is charming, glamorous and very switched on. “I don’t do this to become famous,” she says. “It’s because I love working with players.” But she does want to clarify two things. First she doesn’t use horse placenta. It’s human placenta she buys from hospitals and then mixes it with other ‘natural’ chemicals. Second, she doesn’t inject anything into players. The project, which she has patented is a gel that she rubs into the injured muscle, using a device that looks like a roll-on deodorant and is linked to an electric box. The box emits a pulse into the roll-on that rubs the gel into the affected area. Boateng’s thigh muscles were pulsing excessively as the gel was rubbed in. It looked painful but Boateng was keen to talk about the benefits. “Yesterday, I could feel the hamstring just walking around the lobby of the hotel,” he said. “Then I had two hours with Marijana and she told me to do a full sprint session. I thought she was crazy, but I did and it was fine. "The only pain I could feel was a slight jarring when I kicked a ball, but after another hour with her it was back to normal. It’s unbelievable." The next day Boateng played all 120 minutes against Uruguay. The Ghana squad aren’t the only ones leaving South Africa with their reputations enhanced. Source: By Neil Billingham (published in the August 2010 issue of Four-Four-Two Magazine) and culled by Daily Dispatch