Last minute heartbreak sends Tau out of African Cup of Nations
The dream is over for Percy Tau and South Africa. A catastrophic goalkeeping error from Ronwen Williams handed Nigeria a 2-1 victory in the quarter finals of the African Cup of Nations, sending Bafana Bafana home.
With South Africa’s exit goes any chance of the Lion of Judah playing Premier League football next season. Stuart Baxter’s side had to win the tournament at the very least for Tau to stand any chance of qualifying for a British Work Permit.
Williams error has put paid to that, meaning another spell out on loan in Europe this season for Tau. He should at least have plenty of suitors given his sparking form in Egypt and the fact he was named Player of the Year last season in Belgium’s second tier.
A move to a club in one of the best seven top flights in Europe would help him accumulate points towards qualifying to play in Britain, as would playing for a side in either the Champions League or Europa League.
Our best bet then would appear to be a loan spell with a Belgian top flight side who were suitably impressed by his efforts for Union Saint-Gilloise.
Anderlecht were said to be interested in Tau after he helped to eliminate them from the Belgian Cup via a shock 3-0 Brussel’s derby win for Union.
A season under Vincent Kompany’s management at the wonderfully named Constant Vanden Stock Stadium could help the Lion of Judah’s cause.
It was a pretty frustrating evening for Tau in Cairo. South Africa set up to hit on the counter as they have done throughout the competition, but Nigeria were patient and controlled in what they did.
Whereas Egypt handed plenty of opportunities for Bafana Bafana to break during South Africa’s shock round of 16 win over the hosts, Nigeria didn’t try and force the issue. They bided their time, believing a goal would come.
It did and relatively early too. Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi was the architect, bursting away down the flank and cutting back for Samuel Chukwueze to score at the second attempt after his initial effort was blocked.
That forced South Africa to be a little more proactive and Tau won a free kick five minutes before the break which Lebo Mothiba fired into the wall.
Williams made an excellent stop on the hour mark from Peter Etebo, after which Tau picked up a booking for a weak foul on Ahmed Mus.
Bafana Bafana managed their first shot on target in the 65th minute and in the 70th they were level. This was a rare instance of VAR actually doing something good, showing that Tau’s free kick had come off of Nigeria’s Odion Ighalo before Bongani Zungu powered a wonderful header home.
Without VAR, it would have been disallowed. With it, the Lion of Judah had another assist and South Africa were dreaming of another upset.
They were the better team from that point on as the momentum shifted dramatically. That made Williams’ error all the more disappointing as he completely missed his attempted punch of a Moses Simon corner, leaving William Troost-Ekong to score off his knee.
Leon Balogun came on immediately after Troost-Ekong’s goal, replacing Iwobi as the Super Eagles decided to throw on an extra defender for the final few minutes to see the game out.
They duly did, meaning that Tau and Bafana Bafana go home – although where exactly that is for the Lion of Judah remains to be seen. Balogun meanwhile has a big semi to look forward to on Sunday with either Algeria or Wilfried Zaha’s Ivory Coast.
