Mashego names ideal penalty-takers for Bafana after Tau’s miss

The agonising echoes of Percy Tau’s penalty still reverberate around SA football. But with Bafana Bafana’s next crucial AFCON match looming, Katlego Mashego has revealed his picks for the ideal penalty-takers in the SA squad.

Bafana suffered a 2-0 defeat in their 2023 AFCON opener on Tuesday night at Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium in Korhogo.

Earlier in the game, Bafana had a golden opportunity to go in front through a penalty. But Al Ahly star Tau stepped up and missed the target.

Mashego is of the view that strikers should be the ones taking penalties because their main role on the field is to score goals. However, coach Hugo Broos revealed that he has three penalty-takers in his team and there’s no striker on the list. These are namely; Tau, Teboho Mokoena and Aubrey Modiba.

KATLEGO MASHEGO SAYS STRIKERS SHOULD TAKE PENALTIES FOR BAFANA

“I think the penalty [against Mali] they should have given it to Evidence Makgopa, he is a number nine. He was the only player in that team that was put solely to score goals,” Mashego told FARPost.

“Even if they put Zakhele Lepasa as a number nine or put whoever as a number nine. But the first penalty in the first few minutes of the game give it to the striker.

“Give him [striker] that confidence. All I’m saying is that the support needs to be there for the number nine to score goals. Whatever happens in a football match, whatever happens anywhere in the world, the number nine needs to be supported for him to score goals.”

Bafana’s next test will be against Namibia on Sunday, 21 January, at Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium. They will be aiming to register a victory to keep their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages alive. Kickoff is at 10pm [SA time].

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