It’s déjà vu for Tau and Bafana in Sudan decider
"It has happened before and it can happen again," said the talented forward, as Bafana aim for the point or better in Omdurman that will take them to the Afcon finals.
Percy Tau, seen here with his Man-of-the-Match Award against Ghana, is Bafana’s go-to man right now. Picture: Samuel Shivambu/Backpagepix.
Percy Tau knows all about last-day drama when it comes to qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations.
ALSO READ: Tau strikes again as Bafana draw with Ghana
Bafana Bafana will play Sudan on Sunday in their final Group C match, needing at least a point to make it to the finals in Cameroon next year. The situation for Molefi Ntseki’s men is a mirror image of what happened with Stuart Baxter’s side in qualifying for the last Afcon.
South Africa went into their final qualifier against Libya, on neutral territory in Tunisia, knowing they needed at least a point to make it to Egypt 2019. Two brilliant goals from Tau got Bafana on the plane to Cairo, and it could be that he needs to repeat the trick in Omdurman.
The Brighton and Hove Albion attacker has become Bafana’s go-to man over the last few years, and he was at it again against Ghana on Thursday, shaking off a knock to net the equaliser in a 1-1 draw with the Black Stars at FNB Stadium.
“It was a fair result, as much as we would have loved to win, they scored first, and we had to react. We also scored but couldn’t get the second goal. It is a difficult group. Other teams are also finding it difficult. We are looking to the next game, and if it means we have to win away … it has happened before and it can happen again.”
His smart finish against Ghana was Tau’s 13th in a Bafana shirt – lucky for him – and his eighth in South Africa’s last two Afcon qualifying campaigns.
When Tau speaks of a “difficult group,” meanwhile, he has a point in the sense that nobody really expected Sudan to beat Ghana at home. That blew the group wide open in a way that didn’t really suit Ntseki’s men – put simply, if Ghana had won that game, Bafana would have already made it to the finals.
Sudan followed that up with a 2-0 win at Sao Tome to do their part in Sunday’s showdown – the island nation of Sao Tome have been the group’s whipping boys, without a single point, and another reason it is so tight between the other three.
Ghana have qualified for the Afcon finals as it is now impossible for them to be ousted from the top two in Group C, by virtue of their superior head-to-head record against both Bafana and Sudan.
“I am proud of the group, they did everything they could,” added Tau, they played a different system in the second half, they brought on another midfielder.
That ultimately helped Ajax Amsterdam’s Mohammed Kudus find space to net the opener, though Tau cancelled that out within three minutes.
“We didn’t have so many days to prepare, and we can only get better,” added Tau.
“We didn’t have a lot of the guys (Covid-19 has played havoc with many teams in Africa’s squad selection), but I though the other guys who came in did well.”
Tau added that it will be good to actually see some supporters inside the Al Hilal Stadium in Omdurman, with about 1000 expected to attend the game.
“It will be lovely to play in front of fans but we know it is a difficult one,” he said.
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