Ghanaian born Dutch International, George Boateng says he wanted to represent the colours of the country of his birth but was never approached by officials of the Football Association.

Boateng who went ahead to represent the Netherlands had four caps with the Dutch national team after playing for the U-19 and U-21 sides.

Born in Nkawkaw in the Eastern Region, young Boateng migrated from Ghana to stay with his father in the Netherlands at an early stage in his life.

After spells with Excelsior he finally signed for Feyenoord in 1995 where he excelled for the Dutch side.

Despite starting his football education in Holland, Boateng played the bulk of his professional football in England where he played for the likes of like Aston Villa, Coventry City, Middlesbrough and Hull City.

“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.”

The player intimated that it is not his duty to approach the GFA about wanting to play for Ghana.

“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.”

George Boateng a tough tackling defensive midfielder during his playing days hanged his boots in 2013 before turning to coaching where he currently handles the Aston Villa U-18 side.