Cape Town — Fit-again playmaker Percy Tau, the 'Lion of Judah', is ready to roar again for Al Ahly, the pride of Egyptian football and Africa's No 1 ranked club.
This was the bad news that greeted Mamelodi Sundowns at their Cairo base on Tuesday morning. They are in Cairo preparing for Saturday night's CAF Champions Group A clash at the Al Salam Stadium in Cairo. Al Ahly's technical staff reported that Tau returned to light training last week and joined the squad for intense training on Monday.
An injury just over a month ago saw the gifted left-footer miss out on Al Ahly's campaign at the FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. It was a huge blow for the Egyptians since he ranks among their most valuable assets after his R50m move from English Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion, a few months ago.
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Given Al Ahly's shaky performances of late, coach Pitso Mosimane may be forced to call on his trump card, who will be up against his former club for the first time since 2018, when he transferred to England.
By Tuesday, there has not been any news about Al Ahly's other trump card, the fans. The Egyptians are eagerly awaiting a response from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) after submitting a request to allow spectators at the match on Saturday.
The likely appearance of Tau, who plays alongside several Sundowns players in the South African national team, was not the only bad news. Sundowns co-head coach Rhulani Mokwena reported that the new Bolivia international signing Erwin Saavedra is a doubtful starter for Friday's match. He suffered a first-half injury in Sundowns' match against Sudanese outfit Al Merrikh last week.
“It’s just unfortunate that the Saavedra injury forced us to change the structure a little bit (in the Al Merrikh match)," said Mokwena. "It compromised our high press a bit. Thabiso Kutumela came on and did his best.
“The reality is that we still have possibilities and depth within the squad. We’ve got to find the solutions. That’s why we are here as coaches. If we have no possibilities of using the strikers, that is the situation that is presented to us, and therefore we’ve got to find different solutions to the problems."
The goalless draw against Al Merrikh was the first time Sundowns failed to score in a match (across all formats) this season.
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“We worked on certain things in this (mid-season) break that we had. We used different formations and structural attacks, to try to see whether we could play a different way without some of our strikers. In the game against TS Galaxy, a friendly at Chloorkop, we worked on different schemes, different organizational forms, and we were able to find a bit of joy, " said Mokwena.
Another injury concern is South American star Gaston Sirino who also suffered a knock in the last match.
There has also been a concern that Sundown's star striker Peter Shalulile has failed to find the net in four matches across all competitions.
“I think it is only a matter of time before Peter scores again,” said Mokwena.
“We know his qualities and what he offers the team. It is not just about putting the ball into the back of the net.
“We spoke about it before the game. He is responsible, like all our other strikers, to start defending from the top. They need to help us to start creating possibilities for penetrative movements.
"As long as he does that, and the bigger picture is for the team to benefit, we are contented with his contributions.”
IOL Sport