Simon van Duivenbooden Included in Bafana Bafana Preliminary Squad for AFCON Qualifiers Against Uganda and South Sudan.
Vitesse striker Simon van Duivenbooden has officially become a South African citizen, opening the door for him to represent Bafana Bafana on the international stage.
The 22-year-old forward, who recently received his South African passport and identity documents in Cape Town, has caught the attention of Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos, who included him in the preliminary national squad.
Van Duivenbooden, originally from the Netherlands, is eager to restart his career after a challenging season in Belgium and is set to return to the Netherlands for pre-season training with his Dutch club.
After his injury-shortened loan to Belgian team Patro Eisden resulted in registration complications, he missed the entire 2023–24 season.
Now, he is getting ready to return to the Netherlands soon to start pre-season with the Eerste Divisie club.
Before being promoted to the main squad and scoring just one goal in 11 games in the Dutch top division, Van Duivenbooden scored 34 goals in 64 games while playing for Vitesse’s youth club.
The striker revealed to the iDiski Times that a large portion of his family resides in Europe and that his father was born in South Africa.
Through former U23 head coach David Notoane, the South African Football Association got in touch with Van Duivenbooden in 2022 after he scored his first goal in the Eredivisie. However, as the U23 squad failed to qualify for the Olympics, plans for the squad were shelved.
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