Percy Tau is still only 31 – so why is his Bafana Bafana career all but over?
By moving to Vietnam, Percy Tau has effectively ruled himself out of contention for this year’s World Cup. He’s already missed out on the Africa Cup of Nations.
Image: BackpagePix
Chances are South Africans will never see Percy Tau in a Bafana Bafana shirt again.
Tau is still just 31, and should be in his prime years, someone that Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos relies on to unlock defences and make things happen. Instead, he finds himself in the football wilderness.
The former Mamelodi Sundowns and Al Ahly star currently plays for Thep Xanh Man Dinh in Vietnam, where he hasn’t exactly lit it up.
Last year, he departed Qatari club Qatar SC and was expected to return to South Africa in order to push for a place in the Africa Cup of Nations and World Cup squad. Kaizer Chiefs, who were looking for an experienced attacker, were heavily linked, but after he revealed his salary demands, the club decided to walk away from talks.
Tau then shocked everyone by moving to the Vietnamese club that also had Njabulo Blom on their books.
Broos has made it clear that he will not select players based in leagues he considers to be below the required standard. That stance has already seen several South Africans playing abroad struggle to break into the national setup, and by choosing to play in Vietnam, Tau has all but removed himself from contention.
As one of South Africa’s top footballers of the last decade, the prospect of featuring on the global stage at a World Cup should be hugely appealing. He still has time to revive his international career, with the transfer window remaining open. A move back to South Africa would place him firmly back on Broos’ radar and in the public eye.
For now, though, Tau’s career feels stuck at a crossroads of his own making. Talent alone will not reopen the Bafana Bafana door, and reputation will not outweigh visibility in Broos’ thinking. If Tau truly wants one last run on the biggest stage, the message is brutally clear: he needs to bring his football back into the spotlight, test himself in a league that matters to the national coach, and remind everyone why he was once indispensable.
Otherwise, one of South Africa’s most gifted attackers risks fading out of the international picture not with a bang, but with a quiet, distant goodbye.
IOL Sport
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