Bafana Bafana star Percy Tau was left reeling after his decisive penalty miss in their 2-0 defeat to Mali in their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations opener on Tuesday evening.
South Africa were in control in the first half against the West Africans at the Stade Amadou Gon Coulibaly in Korhogo but Tau’s penalty miss in the 19th minute was a pivotal moment in the context of the game.
The Al Ahly forward and reigning CAF inter-club Player of the Year skied it over the crossbar of Djigui Diarra, but South Africa still managed to compose themselves for a strong end to the first half.
However, things turned sour in the second half, as Éric Chelle’s side imposed themselves on the game and a six-minute blitz saw Hamadi Traore and Lassine Sinayoko take full advantage with two goals.
“This is not the start we wanted, if we scored a goal, I mean if we scored the penalty it could have changed the game, but we missed it so we prolonged the game [from controlling it],” Tau said when asked by iDiski Times in the mixed zone.”
“It hurts, at the moment it still hurts [missing that penalty] I’ll try… I’ll try and get it out of [my system] because we still have two games to play for and I’ll try and get the results. Yes [I’m confident we can progress] even though it hurts right now.”
South Africa now regroup ahead of their second game against Namibia on Sunday – who secured a historic first win in their AFCON history.
