Percy Tau of South Africa takes a penalty during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations Finals match between Mali and South Africa at Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium in Korhogo on 16 January 2024. Photo: ©Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
Percy Tau reacts after costly missed penalty
Bafana Bafana playmaker Percy Tau has said ‘it hurts’ after he missed a penalty in the eventual defeat to Mali on Tuesday.
Percy Tau of South Africa takes a penalty during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations Finals match between Mali and South Africa at Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium in Korhogo on 16 January 2024. Photo: ©Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
Bafana Bafana made a forgettable start to the AFCON competition after they slumped to a 2-0 loss against Mali in their opening match at AFCON 2024. However, it may have been different if Percy Tau had opened the scoring when Bafana were awarded a penalty in the first half, but he blasted the shot well over the posts in a poorly taken spot kick.
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Subsequently, Mali absorbed all of the pressure South Africa exerted before mounting a dominant second half display to secure a 2-0 victory.
Tau reflects on missed opportunity
“This is not the start we wanted but then now we just have to regroup and go again against Namibia. We know it’s gonna be a difficult one again also but then it just hurts right now,” Tau said.
The Al Ahly star admitted his missed penalty brought the Mali side back into the game.
“I mean, we should have scored a goal, I missed a penalty then it gave them the confidence to keep going. If we scored a goal, it was gonna be a better game and it was gonna change the game entirely but a missed penalty is not nice. We still have six points to play for and ya, we’ll give our best, we want to go through,” Tau added.
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Game changer
At one point, it appeared that Tau was not going to step up for the penalty, with Teboho Mokoena initially looking to be lining it up before he stepped away.
“There are three guys for the game (who can take penalties), it was Aubrey [Modiba], Mokoena, and Percy,” coach Hugo Broos said as quoted by iDiski Times.
“And they decide on the pitch. It’s not up to me, the one who feels best has to take the penalty. I think Tau took this responsibility and we can’t blame him for that, certainly not because taking a penalty is not easy. But it changed the game.”
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