The former Borussia Dortmund, Bochum and Arminia Bielefeld player last played for the national team in 2008, but since returning to South Africa to join the Team of Choice, he has caught the eye with some superb performances.
The 34-year old has two goals to his credit and has won three man-of-the-match awards in the six games he has played.
Thus, the call-up may not have been much of a shock to the soccer fraternity, but to Buckley, it came as a pleasant surprise, his main focus having been to perform well for Maritzburg.
"It was five years ago that I last played. This is soccer, you never know what is around the corner do you? I was shocked when I got to training at 3pm today and the guys started congratulating me," he is reported as saying on KickOff.com.
Buckley will add another attacking option to Gordon Igesund's side which will play Poland and Kenya, either as a wide or as a central figure.
He continued: "I guess I have been playing well and this must have impressed the coach. I have always kept the door open to play for Bafana and I always honoured my call-ups. It has always been an honour to represent my country."
| DELRON BUCKLEY FACT FILE |
(as per Wikipedia)
International career
Buckley made his international debut in a friendly against Zambia on 20 May 1998. He has played 72 games and scored 10 goals for the South African national team. Buckley represented his country at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, 2002 FIFA World Cup and the 2004 African Nations Cup.
Club career
Buckley's soccer career began with his local team Butcherfille Rovers Durban, but when he was 17 years old he was signed by German club VfL Bochum. Buckley spent most of his career in Germany, going through Bochum's youth teams and debuting in the Bundesliga in 1995. Buckley finally broke into the first squad in 1998 and remained a starter for much of his time at Bochum.
Having spent nine professional seasons with Bochum, Buckley left in 2004 for Arminia Bielefeld where he enjoyed his most successful season personally, scoring 15 goals and helping the team avoid relegation. Buckley quickly picked up interest from higher-rated clubs. After only one season at Bielefeld, Buckley joined Borussia Dortmund for a reported transfer fee of €425k, and signed a four-year contract.
Buckley was then loaned to Swiss club FC Basel 1893 for the 2006–07 season. He played his team debut for Basel on 10 September 2006 as Basel won 2–1 at home against FC Zürich in the St. Jakob-Park. After returning in July 2007, Buckley was able to regain his place in the Borussia squad for the 2007–08 season, but fell out of favour after the arrival of new manager Jürgen Klopp.
In February 2009, he signed for FSV Mainz 05 for the remainder of the season and was released on 30 June 2009. He moved then to Cyprian club Anorthosis Famagusta FC where he played until the end of 2010–11 season.
In January 2011 he transferred to German 2. Bundesliga team Karlsruher SC.
On 26 June 2012 he signed for Maritzburg United, playing for the first time in his career in South Africa.
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