Oldham Athletic

Midfield man clocks 20,000 miles

Dean Furman has clocked up 20,000 miles since kicking off his international career last month.

Latics captain's first four internationals for South Africa have taken him to three continents and games against Brazil, Mozambique, Poland and Kenya.

The midfield man reported back to Boundary Park today after his latest adventure took him to Poland and Kenya.

Furman says it was disappointing to lose 1-0 to a late goal in Poland in what was an open game in which South Africa also had chances.

He said: "Poland is a good side and the FIFA rankings are a little unjust. I was not surprised how they took the game to England and drew against them in midweek.

" "The pitch in Nairobi was unbelievable – bumpy, hard and yet soft in some places so the ball didn’t run true. It was also completely different to when we trained on it and apparently on the morning of the match there was a march and horses had been on the pitch.

Kenya was completely different. It is always difficult travelling to an away game in Africa because of the conditions, pitches and hostility.

"It was far less exhausting than travelling to South America to play Brazil when my body clock was all over the place," he said.

Furman added the beauty of games in Africa is that there is little time difference so there is hardly any jet lag, though he says having such long flights and a lack of sleep is no fun, even though they travelled business class.

 South Africa won 2-1 which, Furman maintains, breeds confidence for the African Cup of Nations which takes place in January.

"It was dangerous and I wasn’t looking forward to the game, but we had to get on with it as a job had to be done. Thankfully we all came through unscathed."