Who is Broos’s Bafana prelim squad call-up Simon van Duivenbooden?

Simon van Duivenbooden, who was included in Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos's preliminary squad on Tuesday, is a 1.9m tall beanpole centre-forward at Vitesse Arnhem in the Dutch second tier. 

Little is known about Vitesse's emerging striker. The 22-year-old's father is South African and he has many family members in this country. Van Duivenbooden reportedly received his South African passport in June, and has declared his availability to play for Bafana. 

Born in Uithoorn, Netherlands, in 2002, he joined Vitesse's youth system, signing for their under-17s from academy side Alphense Boys Jeugd, in July 2017. 

Van Duivenbooden spent two seasons with PSV Eindhoven's U-18s and U-19s from mid-2019 to mid-2021 before returning to join Vitesse's U-21s. 

He earned two Eredivisie appearances with Vitesse in his debut season with the senior squad in 2021-22 and nine more, scoring one goal, in 2022-23.

The striker reportedly spent almost the entire 2023-24 season sidelined over registration issues after a loan spell to Belgian club Patro Eisden was cut short due to injury. 

In his absence, Vitesse were relegated as the last-placed Eredivisie team last campaign after being docked 18 points while being investigated for ties to sanctioned Russian oligarch and former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich. 

Van Duivenbooden has been retained in their squad, where he has played twice in the Eerste Divisie in 2024-25. 

He scored 24 goals in 35 games for Vitesse's U-21s. He has reportedly scored 49 goals in 75 games at all levels, from U-17 to senior, for the club. 

Broos' 38-player preliminary squad, to be reduced to a final combination  later, was named for Bafana's Africa Cup of Nations Group K qualifiers against Uganda at Orlando Stadium on September 6 (6pm) and South Sudan away on September 10.