BAFANA NEGLECT

Despite excelling in the top-flight in the tough Scottish league, Jacobs has never featured for any of South Africa’s junior or senior national teams. “I’ve never been approached or contacted,” he says. “It’s always been a question of mine – I don’t know what sort of exposure we get over here, or if they even look here, so I don’t really know.” The tough-tackling midfielder feels he deserves a chance, and would happily take up the offer to don the Bafana Bafana shirt despite also being eligible to play for Scotland. “I don’t see why I can’t get a look-in if I’m playing in the top-flight in Scotland against teams that are playing in the Champions League in Europe,” he says disappointedly. “If it came around and I was given the chance to play for South Africa, I’d take the opportunity. But no one has contacted me, so I don’t know if anything could ever come from that.” Despite being based in Scotland for the past two decades, Jacobs says he is still very attached to South Africa, and frequently visits his country of birth where his father now resides. “I’ve still got my South African roots,” he says. “I used to come down every year, but the past few years it’s been a bit harder, as I’ve had a lot going on in my life. But I still speak to my family back home.”