Stop abusing Percy, Fish says as SA readies for Nigeria game

Heading into this titanic match, many Bafana followers, especially on social networks, have asked Broos to drop Tau, reasoning he’s been off-form since the tournament started. Tau has started all Bafana’s five games so far, scoring one goal, a penalty, while he missed one spot-kick as well.

Fish has urged the supporters to rally behind the team and stop “abusing” Tau, adding the coach mustn’t tweak his starting line-up that has brought Bafana this far. “As football fans we are quick to praise players and we are quick to crucify them when they are not doing what we expect from them. People must stop abusing Percy. Let us support the team,” Fish told Sowetan from Ivory Coast yesterday.

“Maybe Percy isn’t doing what we expect him to do but that doesn’t mean he’s not doing well. Over the last two years Bafana relied on Percy and now you tell me he’s a bad player? I don’t agree. I hope he starts tomorrow and reminds people of his quality. The coach must stick with him... in fact there’s no need to change our starting line-up because we’ve been doing well.”

Fish believes the difference between the class of 2000, that lost to the Super Eagles in the semifinals, and today’s team is that the latter is mentally strong. “I think in 2000 we weren’t strong enough mentally... to fight against Nigeria. We somehow got intimidated but this crop of players have shown that their mentality is good, especially against Morocco and Cape Verde,” Fish stated.