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Craig Post: South African-born teenager on football in the Netherlands and international future

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Craig Post is a name not known to many within the South African football fraternity due to him leaving the country during the first few months after his birth.

However, the 17-year-old explains that he is still aware of his heritage due to his family while explaining his journey towards what seems like an inevitable promotion to the professional football ranks.

"I left South Africa because my parents didn't have enough money to take care of me and then I was adopted and moved when I was three months old at the time," Post tells snl24.com/kickoff.

"I went from Cape Town to the Netherlands and I started playing football at about five years old for a team called De Zweef, stayed there for a while, moved on to Twente and then Go Ahead Eagles signed me for their academy in 2014."

He added: "I'm an aggressive defender in a positive way, I always look for the football solution [the pass], sometimes I play in the midfield, a lot like Paul Pogba with my skill and vision.

"When I'm in defence, I like to think of myself like Virgil van Dijk due to my height and technical ability."

On South African football, he admits he only knows Mamelodi Sundowns and Ajax Cape Town and doesn't follow the national team, although he knows Siphiwe Tshabalala due to the famous 2010 FIFA World Cup opener.

But when pressed to acknowledge whether he'd be open to representing South Africa he remained as blunt as one could expect from a teenager.

"Honestly, I'd be open to representing South Africa because I know it's a great country but having been here since I can remember I would choose the Netherlands first, but I will only know when the opportunity arises."

Post featured 10 times in the U-19 Eerste Divisie this season before a groin injury put him out for the past two-and-a-half months.

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