STAR ON THE RISE

Percy Tau’s meteoric rise – considering he was turning out for Witbank Spurs less than a year ago – has been nothing short of phenomenal. Having played a crucial role in Mamelodi Sundowns’ CAF Champions League success, scoring a cracker – and Downs’ only goal – at the FIFA Club World Cup and a mountain of Absa Premiership Man-of-the-Match trophies to go with it, surely a senior national team callup is looming for the talented 22-year-old? Stars of Africa Academy boss Farouk Khan, always a supporter of promoting youth, certainly thinks so. “Percy is most definitely ready for the national team,” Khan says. “He’s proven it on the continent with Sundowns. He was thrown in the deep end after coming back from a loan period, and he’s a tremendous player. “He’s got speed, a very important aspect of the modern game, and he combines that with tremendous technique and skill. His combination of those is his greatest attribute.” Khan feels Tau’s reading of the game is another key attribute which makes him such a prodigious talent, and one he thinks Sundowns will battle to hold on to. “He also has great intelligence and reads the game very well, and knows exactly what to do in a specific moment – he’s a player with a lot of hindsight and perceptual skills, so he reads the situation and is able to apply the appropriate skill when required,” the former head of Chiefs Development continues. “He’s also no slouch in front of goal, and scored a wonderful goal at the FIFA Club World Cup. I’ll be surprised if Sundowns are able to keep him in the long-term as he’s such a phenomenal player.”