Ghanaian-born Dutch international, George Boateng, has revealed that the Ghana Football Association (GFA) never made an attempt to convince him to play for Ghana.
George, now the head coach of Aton Villa U-18, was born at Nkawkaw in the Eastern part of Ghana but moved to the Netherlands at a very young age to stay with his father.
He joined Dutch side Feyenoord in 1995 after impressing at Excelsior.
Boateng was awarded a call up to play for the Dutch U21 side and, later, the senior team following a string of eye-catching showings. The former midfielder made four appearances for the senior side.
However, the 44-year-old recalls how he anxiously waited for a letter from the country’s football governing body but none came.
“As a young star, when I made my debut in the Feyenoord first team, nobody in the GFA ever came to me or sent a letter to express their interest, to say ‘George Boateng is one of our players, he was born in Ghana, he is eligible to play for us. Can we please ask him or invite him for a game’?” Boateng told Asempa FM on the Sports Nite Show.
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“Such a thing never took place. When I was 18 and I debuted [at club level], the Dutch national team did that, they invited me to come and play for the under-18 team, which I did,” he said.
He added that the association is supposed to approach a promising player for a spot in the national team, not the other way round.
“The player is not the one who is supposed to make the initial approach to the GFA to ask if I can play for the team – that is the unorthodox way.
“The professional way is that the federation will send an invite because it is supposed to be an honour for you to be invited to play for your country.”
“So in those seven years, I could have made my mind up and played for Ghana,” he added.
Boateng mostly played for English teams like Aston Villa, Coventry City, Middlesbrough and Hull City.
He hung his boots in 2013 and pursued coaching.
