Bafana Bafana’s talisman Percy Tau is banking on seamless cohesion within the senior national team squad to be the fuel that will drive them to victory in their upcoming international friendlies.
The South Africans have been hard at work in Rustenburg, North West, this week, preparing for their back-to-back friendly matches against southern African neighbours Namibia and Zambia that will be played at Royal Bafokeng Stadium on Thursday evening (7pm kick-off) and Sunday respectively.
These two matches will serve as part of Bafana’s preparations for the resumption of the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers as they’ll clash with islanders Sao Tome and Principe in back-to-back matches next month following a hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Coach Molefi Ntseki has assembled a mixed squad, consisting of experienced and inexperienced players from domestic and international football, as Bafana also need to start preparing for the congested 2021 calendar year – where they’ll also play the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers.
Tau, who joined his Bafana team-mates, alongside Lyle Foster, on Wednesday from Belgian, where he’s on the books of Anderlecht RSC, insisted that the quicker they gel with the rest of the squad, the more they improved their chances of winning both matches.
“I came home to play as it is always a great opportunity for me to play for the national team,” said Tau, who’s made 24 appearances for Bafana since making his senior debut this month five years ago under coach Shakes Mashaba.
“It’s also good to see the other guys here. We just want to see how we fit in with each other at training, so that we know we can trust them and they can trust us also. So, it will be good to see how we interact and hopefully we’ll win the games.”
Tau, clearly, is a team player. But the nation will be targeting him to lead the team to victory over the Brave Warriors and Chipolopolo in the friendlies and Afcon qualifiers against Sao Tome as Bafana aim for a pole position in Group C where they are second and three points behind leaders Ghana.
Tau is currently the nation’s golden boy as his three-year loan stint in Belgium, with Royale Union Saint Gilloise, Club Brugge and currently Anderlecht, has matured him as a player and a person, following his R50 Million move from Mamelodi Sundowns to English top-tier outfit Brighton & Hove Albion in 2018.
But that Tau is on the books of the Purple & White and coached by Belgian national team and Manchester City legend Vincent Kompany doesn’t get to his head, as he says he’s still finding his feet at the club.
“Things are getting there. I am still new at the club. I’ve only played seven games,” Tau said. “There’s a new coach, who’s just switched from being a footballer to being a coach, so everything is still new. But we’ll see with time as to how things develop because we’ve also signed some new players.”
IOL Sport