Broos hails Tau’s return to the top table of Africa

Hugo Broos believes he finally saw the real Percy Tau, after the Bafana Bafana and Al Ahly star put up an inspired display in South Africa’s 2-1 Group K Africa Cup of Nations victory over Morocco at FNB Stadium on Saturday.

Tau arrived in South Africa on the back of some fantastic performances for Al Ahly in the knockout stages of the Caf Champions League, culminating in them lifting the trophy with victory over Wydad Casablanca.

And ‘The Lion of Judah’ continued to torment Moroccan players on Saturday, running the World Cup semifinalists ragged with a display full of energy and skill.

The 29 year-old has battled back from injury troubles to hit peak form, and once again looks ready to be Bafana’s main creative force.

“I have said before that a good Percy is important for Bafana,” said Broos after the match.

“He was not able to make those performances in the past, he went from one injury to another, he did not play. How can you have any rhythm? Now he has become a regular at Al Ahly, he plays every game and you can see it in his performance. I am very happy, I have been here nearly two years and today I saw what I wanted to see from Percy.”

Broos was delighted with the overall performance of his side against Morocco, and stressed that Bafana need a similar level of opponent in the build up to the Afcon finals in the Ivory Coast. Bafana are set to play friendlies in September and October, before the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers begin in November, ahead of January’s Afcon finals.

“We just have the Fifa windows, in September, October and November, and then during preparation for the Afcon in January, we will try to have games,” said Broos.

“We don’t have to play, play and play. But we do have to play good opponents. With respect, we must not play a Botswana, we need teams like this (Morocco). You learn a lot, even when you do not win. It is another level … we have to do that in the friendly games in September and October.

“There is already a problem in September in that there are still (Afcon) qualifiers so (most) African teams are playing. We will see what we can find in September and October, but we need two games every month and we will try to find them.”