The ex-Sundowns boss has hit out at South African fans over the vile attacks towards Tau and Foster
Pitso Mosimane has jumped to the defence of Bafana Bafana forwards Percy Tau and Lyle Foster following the criticism the two have faced in recent months.
Tau was under scrutiny again last week when he started South Africa’s 1-1 draw with Nigeria in the 2026 World Cup qualifier in Uyo with a section of fans criticising his performance while others called on coach Hugo Broos to drop him altogether.
Foster, meanwhile, has been called out for lacking commitment to the national team when he failed to honour Bafana Bafana call-ups, especially last November when he was dealing with a mental problem, but Mosimane fees the criticism is unwarranted as the duo are the best the country currently has.
‘How do you criticise someone that nobody can match?’
“Who has the medals that Percy has? So what is this talk of criticising him? How do you criticise someone that nobody [in South Africa] can match him? How do we criticise that? Someone must say I’ve been to the FIFA Club World Cup three times, like Percy,” Mosimane told iDiski Times.
Mosimane feels South Africans have a habit of criticising their best talents even when they are performing well at the highest level and it is up to the players to silence their doubters.
“Who [can compete with Percy for accolades]? I have a bronze medal? Show us! Being the third-best team in the world, show us that, win the Champions League, and go to three Champions League finals in a row,” added the former Mamelodi Sundowns and Al Ahly coach.
Tau and Foster are integral to Broos’ plans
“I mean how do you criticise our best player? Everyone is being criticised, Lyle Foster, they criticise him, [Steven] Pienaar was my captain [in Bafana] they criticised him, Benni [McCarthy] was criticised.
“So anyway, there’s criticism everywhere so you have to do something [about it to silence the noise]. If you don’t do anything, they will still criticise you for doing nothing.”
Tau and Foster are integral to Broos’ plans as Bafana Bafana plot a route to World Cup qualification for the 2026 tournament and will be counted on for goals again when South Africa face Zimbabwe in Bloemfontein on Tuesday.
