Cape Town - Percy Tau’s sparkling form can fire Egyptian side Al Ahly to a record-extending 11th Caf Champions League title.
Over the weekend, the Emalahleni-born Tau was the toast of Egypt after leading Al Ahly’s attack with aplomb against Wydad AC in the Champions League final first leg and opening the scoring with a header deep added time of the first half. He did not score in the second half, but was a thorn in the flesh of the Moroccan opposition with his darting runs and dribbles.
He was often bullied, but despite being small in stature he remained focused, much to his credit. He was the mainstay of Al Ahly’s 2-1 win over Wydad, last season’s champions, at Cairo International Stadium, on Saturday evening.
Afterwards, Tau’s performance was lauded by one of Al Ahly’s legends Emad Meteb, a centre forward who was a prolific scorer for the 10-time Champions League winners.
“The continuity of Percy Tau playing and maintaining his physical fitness as well as avoiding injuries is making him perform at this level,” said Meteb, in an interview with KingFut, an Egypt-based sports website.
“Tau is currently in full fitness and full artistic performance. He scored a goal and played an important role on the field. These are advantages that should be credited to the coach who dealt with him well and with all the players.
“The current generation can achieve what happened in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 - four consecutive finals and Al Ahly won three of them. I hope that the team wins this year.”
Tau, who has been called up for Bafana Bafana’s upcoming Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Morocco, has become an increasingly important player in the Al Ahly set-up. He is the club’s second-highest goalscorer in the Champions League with five goals. He also has the most goal assists after registering five goals in 11 matches.
Presently, Tau is lurking behind teammate Mahmoud Kahraba and Mamelodi Sundowns ace marksman Peter Shalulile on this season’s leading Champions League goalscorers’ list. The leaders are on six goals and Tau is on five.
Given his red-hot form, Tau will be a good bet to score next Saturday at the 67 000-seater Mohamed V Stadium in Casablanca, Morocco, where the second leg will be played. Al Ahly need a draw or a win to lift the title for an 11th time, and Tau will be the man to lead the charge into Caf’s history books.
After his scintillating display in Cairo last week, Tau was trending long after the final whistle. Fans all over Africa are rooting to see him crowned Champions League Player of the Tournament.
@Herman_Gibbs
IOL Sport