Al Ahly have declared Percy Tau now fit for the Egyptian Premier League new season, which gets underway next weekend.
The Cairo-based club recalled Tau to group training on Sunday, a day after sidelining him from the CAF Champions League round-of-32 second-leg match against Tunisians US Monastir.
Tau was conspicuously absent as Al Ahly beat Monastir 3-0 on Saturday to clinch a group stage berth with a 4-0 aggregate win.
GROUP TRAINING
Tau also missed the trip to Tunisia for the first-leg encounter, which the Marcel Koller-led side won 1-0 last weekend.
Now, the South African is in line for selection for the league opener against Ismaily next Saturday.
The record Champions League winners have confirmed that Tau started group training at El Tetsh stadium on Sunday morning.
“The players trained at the gym, then carried out some fitness drills on the grass before having tactical units led by Marcel Koller,” the Al Ahly website reports.
“Also, Percy Tau joined the group training after recovering from a long injury that sidelined him from the two games against US Monastir in the CAF Champions League round of 32.”
The Bafana Bafana star has been fighting his way back to full match fitness after a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
Koller has been banking on forwards such as Mohamed Sherif, Hossam Hassan and Shady Husein, who were in the playing squad for Saturday.
RECAPTURE LOST GLORY
The Egyptian side is trying to recapture its lost glory after finishing the recent season empty-handed.
Al Ahly lost 2-0 to Wydad Casablanca in the final played in Morocco in coach Pitso Mosimane’s last game in charge of the Egyptian side.
He resigned, citing increasing pressure, and has since started a new lease of life at Al Ahli Saudi FC in Saudi Arabia.
Mosimane’s exit seemed to cast doubt on the future of his signing Tau, who joined from Brighton and Hove Albion in England last season.
Nonetheless, Koller drafted the South African player into the squad for the domestic league and Champions League.
Tau’s contribution to the cause of the Club of the Century has been limited by niggling injuries.
The former Mamelodi Sundowns forward hardly played for Al Ahly when Portuguese Ricardo Soares replaced Mosimane on the hot seat.
Soares lost his job last month after an uninspiring third-place finish in the Egyptian Premier League and a 2-1 loss to rivals Zamalek in the Egyptian Cup.
Former Austria coach Koller has since been hired to steady the ship with winning the CAF Champions League a priority.
Mosimane set the bar by winning two CAF Champions League titles in three attempts.
