Veldwijk Opens Up On Bafana Bafana Future

In an exclusive interview with Soccer Laduma, Bafana Bafana striker Lars Veldwijk opened up on his experience of playing at last year's Africa Cup of Nations, and reveals what his future looks like with the national team.

Click through the gallery above to see some images of Veldwijk at his new club Jeonbuk Motors, as provided by the K League.

Having made his debut for South Africa in 2016, Veldwijk took part in his first international tournament last year during the country's 2019 AFCON campaign in Egypt.

There, Bafana Bafana recorded a famous victory in the round of 16 to eliminate the hosts before falling to Nigeria in the quarter-finals, but Veldwijk regards the tournament as one of the highlights of his career.

"Yeah, that was a great experience," the 28-year-old told Soccer Laduma.

"The tournament didn't go really well for us even though we had some really good results and we beat Egypt, but we had a difficult group and there were some tough matches for us.

"For me as an experience though, to be there with the team was amazing and the win against Egypt in front of thousands of people, I will never forget it."

Veldwijk, who made five substitute appearances at the continent's showpiece event, was disappointed not to progress further in the tournament, and shared his belief that the team had the quality to go all the way and win the title.

"We could have gone further because the game against Nigeria was not our best game and still we only lost to a really late goal, which was disappointing," the Jeonbuk Motors striker explained.

"I think the team and Bafana Bafana has so much quality, and that we as the players didn't show what we could do that tournament, even though we made it to the quarter-finals."

Read: AFCON Winners Who Were Born In Europe

The former Sparta Rotterdam star has since been overlooked by new Bafana Bafana boss Molefi Ntseki for the nation's most recent squads, but he has not given up on donning the green and gold at next year's continental tournament. 

"Yeah, for sure (I want to play at AFCON 2021). The last few times I've not been picked for the national team, but, of course, I hope to be back with Bafana Bafana if I score my goals here (at Jeonbuk) and play well," he added.

"I know I'm not a typical South African player, but I think that's why I can help the team."

To read more of the exclusive interview with Lars Veldwijk, including his reasons for moving to South Korea and his thoughts on playing in the PSL, get your copy of this week's Soccer Laduma, available online here!