Dean Furman chatted with Michael Morton about his time in South African football and the challenges of playing on the African continent.
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The story
Dean Furman settled in for a discussion with former teammate, Michael Morton about his football journey, reflecting on his stint at SuperSport United (SSU) among other topics.
He shared insights into his experiences with Bafana Bafana, with him and Morton shedding light on the unique challenges of playing football on the African continent.
When speaking about playing and travelling on the African continent with Bafana Bafana and SuperSport United in CAF club competitions, he didn't hold back on how difficult it was:
"It's so tough. The interesting thing is that when you play for the national team, typically you're playing in the main city in the national stadium and it's generally, not too bad. But when you're playing on a domestic level, you're leaving the main city so you're playing in an obscure place in the country.
"You might not be able to fly there and might have to take a three-hour bus ride there, the hotel, the facilities, the heat? You think South Africa is hot but some places it's like 'woah', the pitches, yeah it's tough, it's really tough, people don't quite realise how tough it is on the continent," said Furman.
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In response to that, Morton shared an incredible tale of how they left Sudan straight after a CAF Confederation Cup game and travelled without taking a shower until he arrived back in Mzansi:
Furman, who was at the famous Chelsea FC football academy in Cobham from ages 9 to 18, left South Africa as a five-year-old and returning to the country to represent Matsatsantsa and eventually captaining Bafana Bafana was a full circle moment for him.
Furman revealed how Stan Matthews flew all the way to London to convince him to sign for Matsantsantsa and stated that it was one of the best career decisions he's ever made.
"I thought to myself [when signing for SSU], what's the worst that could happen? If I don't enjoy it, I don't like, I come back home [to the UK]," says Furman, mentioning that he will always encourages young South African players to return home if they're not enjoying their football in Europe or anywhere outside the country.
"I loved it so much [playing for SSU] that two years turned to three, turned to four, turned to five. So, it was probably one of the best decisions for me to come back to South Africa. Not just from a football perspective but a life point-of-view, experiencing something different, exploring the country, immersing into different cultures, to understanding a bit more about the country, just the whole experience was phenomenal for us," shared Furman.
"It was tough, I really struggled to settle in. You're talking going from playing here [England] in like minus temperatures sometimes to playing in Pretoria in 30-degree weather, it's a completely different game. I remember going like: 'I'm really struggling here'," added Furman on adapting to life and football in Mzansi.
Watch Morton and Furman's discussion below:
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