Hugo Broos confirms Percy Tau asked to be excused from Bafana squad

The Al Ahly forward had initially been selected in the preliminary team to face Congo-Brazzaville in back-to-back AFCON qualifiers this month before being dropped by Broos on Thursday.

Tau’s future with the national team appears to be in doubt, and Broos once again had to explain how he will approach this going forward.

"I don't know, I see things happening, we don't have to repeat the period after AFCON, they [fans] killed him, they really killed him and it was not fair. It was not fair, okay, he was not really the deciding player or was not really fantastic but he did the job,” Broos said.

“Therefore I didn't call him for Algeria, he told me, 'Yes coach but's part of the game.' Yeah, yeah it is part of the game but it's in your mind, don't tell me it's not in your mind. Then he came back against Zimbabwe and Nigeria and again it started."

Broos omitted Tau in September when Bafana faced Uganda and South Sudan, claiming he was protecting the player.

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With the striker now playing again at Ahly, the coach was anticipating his return to the national team.

"Then there were the troubles or the problems with Al Ahly, he didn't play certain moments anymore. There were talks about he would leave, he would not leave, now I heard that they want him to stay,” Broos added.

“So, it's always yes or no, yes or no, yes or no. The fact that he's not here with us now, there's personal reasons, personal, personal issues. He asked me 'Coach, please don't call me, I'm not ready to come because of personal issues'. What can I tell him, no you have to come. Then he's not ready for it."