Percy Tau Makes Speedy Recovery, Returns to Training With Al Ahly After Pulling Out From Bafana Bafana Squad

Percy Tau Makes Speedy Recovery, Returns to Training With Al Ahly After Pulling Out From Bafana Bafana Squad

Byron Pillay
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:59 PM
  • Percy Tau was spotted training with his Al Ahly teammates, a week after he pulled out of the Bafana squad due to an injury
  • Ahmed Shobeir previously stated that Percy Tau did not want to play for Bafana while Hugo Broos was in charge
  • Percy Tau's speedy recovery, despite being unavailable for the national team, has sparked another club versus country debate

Percy Tau has made a speedy recovery, a week after pulling out from the Bafana Bafana squad due to injury.

Tau returned to training with Al Ahly, as the Egyptian club gets ready for a crunch CAF Champions League game against Sudan’s Al-Hilal.

Percy Tau, Speedy Recovery, Al Ahly, Bafana, South Africa, Football, France, International Friendly, Egypt
Percy Tau has ignited the club vs country debate once again as he has returned to full fitness for Al Ahly, a week after being too injured to play for Bafana. Image: Tnani Badreddine/ Phill Magakoe
Source: Getty Images

Pitso Mosimane's Al Ahly takes on Al-Hilal, looking to secure their place in the quarter-final of the CAF Champions League and having Tau back for the game will be a big boost to the side.

Just last week though, Tau withdrew from the Bafana team for the international friendlies against Guinea and France, due to an injury, Soccer Laduma reported. He has since been spotted back to full training with his club side, on the same day that South Africa play France.

His withdrawal from the squad opened a can of worms as Hugo Broos commented on the player often picking up injuries, saying that he should take a six-month break from playing football to properly recover.

His comments upset Tau and Al Ahly legend, Ahmed Shobier, claimed that the player no longer wished to represent South Africa while Broos was in charge. Tau's sudden return to action could be an indication of that.

Linda Buthelezi believes that Hugo Broos needs to manage Percy Tau better

Speaking to KickOff, former Bafana player, Linda Buthelezi, said that Broos should manage the situation with Tau better. Buthelezi said that Broos should focus more on locally-based players as those playing out of South Africa had more pressure to perform for their clubs. He also explained that Tau had to choose which games were important for the country, as his agent didn’t want him playing friendly games where he could risk getting injured.

"Tau is also protecting his career because the national team doesn't give him much more than the club, this takes us back to club versus national team,” Buthelezi said.

The Bafana legend also added that Tau was more likely to pick up injuries because Egyptian teams were more ruthless when marking a black player.

"Tau's injury has been caused by the fact that when Egyptian teams mark a black player it's as if he's prey attacked by wild dogs,” Buthelezi said.

Percy Tau suffers an injury, withdraws from Bafana squad, replaced with Royal AM's Victor Letsoalo by Hugo Broos

Bafana Bafana coach, Hugo Broos, has replaced Percy Tau with Royal AM’s Victor Letsoalo for Bafana’s upcoming friendlies. Letsoalo was originally part of the provisional squad to take on Guinea and then France but did not make the final 23-man squad.

Percy Tau was included in the squad but suffered a knee injury during Al Ahly’s CAF Champions League fixture over the weekend, KickOff reported.No indication was given as to how long he would be out of action.

The news has frustrated Hugo Broos, who has become tired of the constant injuries to one of his key players, Sports Brief earlier reported. Broos added that the player should take a six-month break from football in order to fully recuperate.

Authors
Byron Pillay photo
Byron Pillay
Byron Pillay is a sports writer and Head of the Department at Sports Brief (joined in 2022) with over 10 years of experience in community journalism and a degree in journalism from Caxton's Cadet School.
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Pitso MosimaneSouth Africa