Bafana’s Tau on-song and hoping for another celebration

Bafana Bafana’s in-form attacker Percy Tau will hope his inside knowledge of Moroccan football can help South Africa today, as they take on the Atlas Lions at FNB Stadium in their final Group K Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier.

With both teams already qualified for the AFCON finals, the pressure is very much off for this encounter, but there is still plenty to play for, especially for Bafana, who need all the confidence-boosting they can get ahead of the tournament in the Ivory Coast early next year.

Taking down a classy Morocco side, who finished fourth at the World Cup finals in Qatar at the end of last year, would certainly be a feather in Bafana’s cap, and Tau could be a key man in unlocking the Atlas Lions defence.

The 29 year-old is fresh off winning the Caf Champions League with Al Ahly last weekend, as they took down Wydad Casablanca in the final, while they also beat Raja Casablanca in the quarterfinals.

Morocco rely a lot on overseas-based stars, of course, boasting in their ranks the likes of PSG wing-back Achraf Hakimi, Chelsea winger Hakim Ziyech, and Sevilla striker Youssef El-Nesyri.

There is a Wydad influence too, however, especially through head coach Walid Regragui, who won the Caf Champions League at the helm of Wydad in the same year that he guided the Atlas Lions to the World Cup semifinals.

“The coach is from Wydad, and there are some traits I watched in their (Morocco’s) games, which are similar to how Wydad play,” said Tau, who scored a header against Wydad in the first leg of the final, one of five goals he scored in the competition, along with five assists.

“But the national team has other ingredients, with their players from abroad.”

In sparkling form

Tau, meanwhile, has a simple explanation for his stunning return to form at Ahly this season.

“I am injury free,” he said.

“I have suffered a lot, coming in and going out, I couldn’t get any momentum. I have been getting used to the guys in Egypt and what the coach (Marcel Koller came in as head coach in September) demands, but the biggest thing is that I am not injured.”

There will be extra motivation for Bafana to do well today, meanwhile, in memory of the late Clive Barker, the 1995 Africa Cup of Nations winning head coach, who was laid to rest in Durban this week.

“I am sad for the Barker family, to have lost a great person, who contributed so much to the country, and to football. The whole country is sad about losing him and we would love to give him a good send off,” said Tau.