Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has confirmed that Percy Tau asked to be excluded from the team set to face Congo in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers this month over ‘personal issues.’
Tau has not featured for Bafana Bafana since the game against Nigeria in June and was dropped from last month’s matches against Uganda and South Sudan due to what Broos termed an “unsettled mind” over the uncertainty regarding his future at Al Ahly.
However, having returned to action with his club in the CAF Champions League last month, there was hope that he would make the team for this month’s matches when he was named in the provisional squad but he was missing as Broos unveiled the final team on Thursday.
Why is Percy Tau not in the squad to face Congo?
“After AFCON they [fans] killed him, they really killed him and it was not fair because he was not the deciding player,” Broos told the media.
“He was not fantastic but he did his job and therefore I did not call him for Algeria. He told me; ‘Coach it is part of the game,’ but it is in your mind, don't tell me it is not in your mind.
“Then he came back against Zimbabwe and Nigeria and again [they killed him] then there were troubles with Al Ahly and he did not play anymore. Then it was he will leave, now I hear they want him to stay. It is always yes or no, yes or no.
“The fact that he is not here with us now is that there are personal reasons, personal issues. He asked me; ‘coach don’t call me, I am not ready to come because of personal issues.’”
Broos not happy with the Al Ahly forward’s output
Broos expressed his frustrations that Tau has not produced his full potential for Bafana Bafana since he seems to always have something to deal with, which affects his performances.
“It is something that happened with him. Maybe he has to look for some other team to play where he would be happier and there is less problems and we can get a hold of Percy Tau that we knew long ago,” added Broos.
“The qualities of Percy, he can help us a lot but we have to be honest also comparing his performances with national team have never been the same as qualities he has as a player. He can do more for the national team but there is always something.”
