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Cape Town - Bafana Bafana goalkeeper, Jackson Mabokgwane, admits he would be realising a life-long dream if selected for action at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations finals.
Read: Parker hungry to represent SA
The 26-year-old is among the three goalkeepers in South Africa coach Shakes Mashaba's 23-man squad headed to the AFCON finals, which get under way in Equatorial Guinea on January 17.
The Mpumalanga Black Aces shot stopper also revealed that, as a child, he intended to make a name for himself as an outfield player, but that a moment of inspiration saw him change his focus to the gloves.
"When I was still young playing in the streets of Vlak, I used to play outfield. When it was raining and cold I'd refuse to go in goals," he told Football411.
"But I remember one day I made a decision and said to my older brother and other kids I used to play with: 'from today I am your Andre Arendse, I'm your Brian Baloyi'.
"They asked me why, and asked what I meant; I said to them they will never see me playing outfield. That's where the dream started because I looked up to those guys [Arendse and Baloyi] and I had that image of myself doing what they did for their club and country.
"I'm a very confident footballer and I always dream big, always aim high."
He continued: "I still have some memories of (early AFCON finals), especially the Super Eagles team of [Celestine] Babayaro, [Jay-Jay] Okocha, [Sunday] Oliseah, [Tijani] Babangida, [Nwankwo] Kanu - I'm not sure what year it was but I remember watching them and I said to myself 'these are the best in Africa, one day I'll play there', and it gives me great joy that I'll be taking part in the biggest soccer competition on the African continent."
Mabokgwane went on to underline his plans to add more caps to the solitary national appearance he has under his belt, saying: "Going forward, I'd like to earn more Bafana caps, win trophies and help the country move up the CAF and FIFA rankings."
"Also, at club level I'd like to win trophies with the club and also win Goalkeeper of the Season individually."
