DIE HOND IS HONGER

STELLENBOSCH local Deano “Die Hond” van Rooyen will give his alles if he gets to make his international debut for Bafana Bafana in the next week. 

Van Rooyen was called up to the South African squad for the first time ahead of Friday’s friendly against Tanzania and next Tuesday's clash with Mozambique.  

Coach Hugo Broos has opted to bring fresh faces into the setup, awarding debut call-ups to 10 players, Van Rooyen being among them.  

Since joining Orlando Pirates from Stellenbosch FC in August, the 28-year-old van Rooyen has been a key contributor to the club’s kwaai 2024-25 campaign. 

Featuring in 20 matches - 18 as a starter and twice off the bench - he believes his consistent performances have finally paid off.

Van Rooyen wyses: “It’s an honour to be selected for the Bafana Bafana squad. For me, I have been working hard to get this opportunity. You have to keep working hard, you’ll never know when the opportunity will come. Now for us the focus is to get a chance in the two games and give my best. 

“We had a good season at Orlando Pirates and a lot of our players gained a lot of experience of playing in the Caf Champions League. For us now it is a chance to help the country achieve good results in the next two games.”

Van Rooyen believes that even though they have a younger squad, they will not be under added pressure. 

Instead, he says the coach told them to go out and express themselves. 

He explains: “Yes we have a younger squad, but as the coach has said, there is no pressure on us. So we must just go out there and perform and be ourselves.”