Percy Tau explains why he doesn’t play for 90 minutes at Al Ahly

Star Bafana Bafana striker Percy Tau has given a detailed explanation of why he was not finishing matches for Egyptian giants Al Ahly last season.

In June Al Ahly won a record-extending 11th Caf Champions League title with Tau playing a crucial role in their success even though he would not stay on the pitch for the duration of most matches. 

Speaking at a breakfast with the media ahead of Bafana's international friendly matches against Namibia on Saturday (3pm) and Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday (5pm), both at Orlando Stadium, Tau said the coaching staff at his Egyptian club are managing his workload. 

“What is happening at Al Ahly is that I don’t play 90 minutes anymore. I don’t know if you guys have noticed that,” he said during the breakfast organised by Bafana sponsors 10bet. 

“This is because [in the past] I always got injured between the 75th minute to 90th minute. [Now] I play less minutes but I also do a lot of work in the gym. I try to strengthen my legs and upper body and that has been the secret so far.  

“This happened after the conversation I had with the coaches because the overload was just too much and the traveling also played a huge role. When I first came to the national team, we were still doing pre-season at Al Ahly and I got injured.  

“The second injury happened late in a match. It is not nice to be replaced but I had to do it so I can have a chance of playing for the whole season.

"I don’t know if it will change this season, but last season the talk we had was for me to play less minutes.”

Bafana's friendlies serve as preparation for the start of their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign in November and the Africa Cup of Nations finals in Ivory Coast.