‘Shabba’ jumps to Tau’s defence

Kaizer Chiefs and Bafana Bafana legend Siphiwe Tshabalala has come to the defence of Percy Tau, who is being blamed for the 2-0 loss to Mali on Tuesday.

The Al-Ahly superstar missed a penalty that would have given Bafana the lead in the first-half after they dominated the early exchanges of their opening game of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Côte d’Ivoire.

Tshabalala, who is one of the African football legends roped in by Caf as an ambassador for the tournament currently being played in Ivory Coast, attended the game that was played at the Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium in Korhogo.

He commended Tau on how he dusted himself off and kept probing the Mali defence after he ballooned his effot over the bar from 12 yards out.

“In most cases, when you miss such a big opportunity, you drop your head and your game will drop drastically,” he told Thabiso Mosia on Radio 2000.

“With Percy, it was a different case because after he missed the penalty, he kept fighting and pushing. That’s what you need, he’s one of our best players and we rely heavily on him and his experience, so he showed leadership.

“I was already up on my feet because that’s how confident I was (in Tau). As a footballer it happens that you either score or you miss. If you miss, they will say ‘why didn’t so and so take it?’ but it’s about taking responsibility.

“We must move on from that and go forward. Yes, it was an important and defining moment in the game but I feel that not all is lost. We still have two games and we’re still in it to win it.”

Statistics from the game showed that South Africa dominated with 55% ball possession and had more completed passes but their lack of bite in the final third proved to be the team’s downfall.

“Shabba”, as the 39-year-old is affectionately known, also pointed out areas to improve on in Bafana’s remaining two games of the group stage against Namibia and Tunisia.

“That’s our strength, we’ve got very skillful players who are very comfortable on the ball. We just need to be clinical and play the way we did against Mali,” he added.

“But we must have a strong secondhalf and just give an extra 10% then we will win games. But we have to make sure that we take the chances we create.

“The first half everyone was comfortable on the ball. The rotation was good, it was close to perfection but in the second half we were punished.”