FORMER EUROPEAN STARS WHO COULD HAVE PLAYED FOR BAFANA

ACCORDING to Fifa rules, one can represent a nation if they were born there, if their parents were born there or if the player in question has lived in the country for two years continuously.

While Hans Vonk, Pierre Issa and Dean Furman spent the majority of their lives outside South Africa, they qualified to play for Bafana Bafana as they were born in South Africa.

There were some other notable footballers who could have played for South Africa but opted not to.

Mark Gonzalez

Out of the three on this list, Gonzalez is the only name that had a successful international career, with Chile.

Born in Durban, Gonzalez’s father Raul played professionally for Durban Bush Bucks and he was actually named after former South African footballers Mark Tovey and Dennis Wicks. Though he was somewhat of a journeyman throughout his club career, Gonzalez is remembered for scoring brilliant goals in his time with Liverpool, Real Sociedad, Real Betis and CSKA Moscow.

A 56-time Chile international, he played at the 2010 World Cup and three Copa America tournaments, including the 2016 edition which Chile won.

Gonzalez retired from professional football in 2019, having last been on the books of Deportes Magallanes in Chile.

Andrew Surman

The central midfielder is best noted for marathon spells with Southampton and most recently Wolverhampton Wanderers where he left in July.

The former England U-21 international was born in Johannesburg and spent the formative years of his life in South Africa.

In 2012, when it was clear that he would not gain an England call-up, former Bafana Bafana coach Gordon Igesund tried to motivate Surman to represent South Africa.

Surman never seemed interested in playing for South Africa as he was more focused on his club career.

In 2017, he cleared the issue by telling the Daily Echo: “I have never ruled out playing for South Africa but my priority has always been my club football. The past two or three years have been hugely important for me. If I had gone to play international football things might not have worked out the same way. I was really honoured to be called up and it certainly was not something I turned up my nose at. I really, seriously, considered it. But I have a young family and international football is a big commitment.”

The 34-year-old Surman is on the books of English League One club MK Dons.

Sean Dundee

The Durban-born Dundee was a feared striker in the Bundesliga in the ’90s, turning out for Karlsruher SC and VfB Stuttgart in the heyday of his career, between a failed spell with Liverpool.

With Karlsruher, Dundee was the joint secondhighest goalscorer in the 1995-96 Bundesliga season with 16 goals to his name, behind only VfB Stuttgart’s Fredi Bobic.

The following season, he netted 17 goals and was the joint fourth-highest scorer in the German top-flight.

Dundee was once called up by Bafana Bafana but reportedly withdrew in order to try and win Germany selection. While he never played for Germany, he made one appearance for Germany B and scored against Russia.