Bafana Bafana forward Percy Tau has spoken out about his reduced game time for the national team owing to his issues at club level and age.
Tau has struggled to get into the national team in the last one year, either sitting on the bench or not earning call-ups altogether, with coach Hugo Broos giving varying reasons for the winger’s exclusion.
Initially, Broos was hesitant to play Tau due to the criticism directed his way by fans over his performances as some supporters abused him and even called for his retirement while in recent months, the tactician claimed the player was not in the right state of mind as he was not settled in Egypt.
That was when there was a lot of speculation over Tau’s future at Al Ahly before he made the switch to Qatar SC in January this year, leading to his recall for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in March.
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Tau, however, feels he has been treated unfairly by both coaches and fans as he thinks players both young and old can all contribute to the national team and age should not be the determining factor but rather performance.
“I still feel that I can contribute to the country. Yes, there are performances that put doubts or questions but that does not make you a bad player at all and it does not change who I am,” Tau said on Marawa Sports Worldwide.
“My name will never change; I’m still Percy and I’ll always try and give my best. Yes, there are players that are doing well but then do you only want to have the younger ones only in the national team and take all the other ones?”
Tau feels there should be a realization among coaches and fans that players go through bad moments and that should not be used to discard them.
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“Football is a sport where there are phases, you’ll have your lows, you'll have your highs, but then do we kick him out when he’s having his lows,” he added.
“I don’t feel that should be the approach because we are going to have problems on what it means to play for the national team. And we don’t want that to happen to anyone where they are now starting to feel different about going to the national team like you only support me when I’m doing well.
“I feel that it should always be balanced. You want to have the younger ones, and you want to have the older ones and by the way I’m still 31 years old, the coaches make it seem like I’m 38.”
Tau is currently looking for a new club after ending his six-month stay in Qatar and admitted on the very show that he is open to clubs from South Africa.
