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Teenage sensation chooses SA over Nigeria

South Africa Under-17 head coach Duncan Crowie is very excited to have teenage sensation Michael Dokunmu commit his international future to South Africa.

Born to a Nigerian father and a South African mother, Dokunmu who is playing for Eredivisie side Vitesse Arnhem in the Netherlands has finally accepted the South African Football Association's invite to represent the country.

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"We are meeting on Sunday, and on Sunday we will know for sure who is coming, yes Michael is coming, at the moment I only know of one or two [players] that are not coming," Crowie tells KickOff.

"So yes, we've agreed, and we've sorted his documents and stuff as well."

Former coach at SAFA School Of Excellence and assistant coach at Egyptian giants Ahly Cavin Johnson says it is good South Africa were now learning how international football works.

"South Africa has not had those types of people coming to the country because we are very, very young in the international world.

"Countries like France have been doing it for centuries, and so has England.

"I don't know where Bukayo Saka is from, but if you follow up you will find out his parents are from Africa [Nigeria], Zinedine Zidane his parents are from Algeria.

"The Europeans have been doing this for years and they've been gaining from players from Africa.

"I believe there will be a lot more players wanting to play for South Africa in the future.

"Dokunmu he can play for South Africa Under-17 and Under-20 and before the Under-23 level, he can change his nationality again.

"To keep him hopefully we do well at the international level, and he sees the value of playing for South Africa.

"And after that, it's up to the player, and we as a country can't say you must do this and that no, it's up to the player now.

"Make sure that he is happy all his life at the junior level until it comes to the point where he can't turn his back on South Africa anymore, for example in the Under-23 level and plays in the Olympics.

"We got to make sure we keep him happy, and we keep him motivated until it gets to a stage where he can't ditch South Africa."

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