ANT KATZ

Very proud of being Jewish

“I’m very excited at this stage,” Furman told THE ALGEMEINER from England, where he has established himself as a mainstay in the centre of the park for Doncaster Rovers. “We had a great qualifying campaign and we’re going in with a lot of confidence.”

Furman went into SA’s last two qualifying games, against Sudan and Nigeria, as captain of the national football squad. After a 2-1 victory against the Sudanese and a 2-2 draw with the Nigerians, during which Furman’s exquisite pass set up Takelo Rantie to level the game for the South Africans; the team finished top of their qualifying group. 

RIGHT: “We’re going in with a lot of confidence,” says Jewish South African midfielder Dean Furman about the forthcoming African Cup of Nations. PIC – Twitter

Furman clearly wants to lead his team again. Serving as captain “was an incredible experience for me and for my family,” he said. At the same time, he noted that the captaincy came his way “in the worst possible circumstances”, following the murder of the former captain, the much-loved goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa, during an attempted burglary at his girlfriend’s house near Johannesburg last year.

Furman, who comes from what he describes as a “traditional” Jewish family, said that his Jewish identity is something he’s very proud of. But, he joked, “it doesn’t necessarily affect my football”.

Bafana-Bafana will be opening their campaign for the African Cup of Nations trophy on Monday,  January 19 with a tough match against Algeria, one of the strongest teams on the continent. The Algerians edged out Russia and South Korea to reach the knockout stage of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, before they were defeated 2-1 by Germany, who went on to win the tournament.

SA will also face stiff competition from Senegal and Ghana as they attempt to reach the knockout stage.