Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has called up a Kaizer Chiefs midfielder to replace Percy Tau ahead of the October camp.
Bafana assemble in Gauteng on Monday for a nine-day international camp. They are using it to prepare for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and AFCON finals.
The Al Ahly forward, who struck twice in the 3-1 win over Ismaily in the Egyptian Premier League on Sunday, reportedly excused himself.
The league has just started in Egypt, and Ahly have played four games. Tau has scored four goals in those two games.
Indications are that he has asked to be excused from this camp for “personal reasons”. He will miss the upcoming two friendly internationals against Eswatini and Ivory Coast.
The national team will host Isihlangu on Friday in Gauteng before travelling to Ivory Coast, hosts for the next edition of the AFCON finals in January 2024. They play Ivory Coast on Tuesday, 17 October.
Last month, they played a goalless draw against Namibia and beat the Democratic Republic of Congo 1-0 as part of their preparations.
WHICH KAIZER CHIEFS PLAYER REPLACES PERCY TAU
Tau played a part in the second match against DRC but will not be available for the two October preparatory matches.
His absence has made way for Chiefs’ new signing, Mduduzi Mdantsane. The 28-year-old is expected to be in camp on Monday after being dropped from last week’s final squad.
Mdantsane has featured in 10 games for Chiefs since joining them from Cape Town City in the off-season. He has started in half of those matches, which came in the league and MTN8.
Mdantsane becomes Chiefs’ second player in the squad alongside another new signing, Sibongiseni ‘Ox’ Mthethwa.
Bafana’s kick off the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign against Benin at home on November 13. Exactly a week later, they travel to Rwanda on November 20.
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