Ghanaian-born Dutch international, George Boateng, revealed that he has always wanted to play for the Black Stars, but the Ghana Football Association never made an approach - and that's why he represented the European side.

George was born in Nkawkaw, moving to the Netherlands at a very young age to stay with his father.

He was signed by Feyenoord in 1995 after impressing at Excelsior. Boateng got the opportunity to play for the Dutch U21 side and, later, the senior team following a string of eye-catching showings. The former midfielder made four appearances for the senior side.

Now 44, George mostly played for English teams like Aston Villa, Coventry City, Middlesbrough and Hull City. He hung his boots in 2013 and pursued coaching.

Boateng recalled anxiously waiting for a letter from the GFA, but none came.

“As a young star, when I made my debut in the Feyenoord first team, nobody in the GFA ever came to me or sent a letter to express their interest, to say 'George Boateng is one of our players, he was born in Ghana, he is eligible to play for us. Can we please ask him or invite him for a game?'", Boateng told Citi TV.

"Such a thing never took place. When I was 18 and I debuted [at club level], the Dutch national team did that, they invited me to come and play for the under-18 team, which I did.”

He added that the association is supposed to approach a promising player for a spot in the national team, not the other way round.

“The player is not the one who is supposed to make the initial approach to the GFA to ask if I can play for the team - that is the unorthodox way.”

“The professional way is that the federation will send an invite because it is supposed to be an honour for you to be invited to play for your country.”

"So in those seven years, I could have made my mind up and played for Ghana."

Boateng is currently the head coach of Aston Villa’s U18 team.