Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper Ronwen Williams' growing status in the Bafana side has relegated Percy Tau, who missed a big honour during AFCON qualifiers.
Tau was arguably head and shoulders above the rest of the Bafana squad prior to the Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
However, Williams' penalty saving and clean sheet heroics at the AFCON, a competition where the Al Ahly forward could not live up to expectations, earned 'Ronza' global appeal, after Hugo Broos' charges won a bronze medal at the biennial tournament for the first time since the year 2000.
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After only being called to the national team once this year, since the AFCON tournament, the former Brighton and Hove Albion forward missed out on joining the elite company of players to reach 50 caps or more for South Africa before the end of the year.
After last featuring in June in a 1-1 draw against Nigeria in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Tau played his 46th game for South Africa and was on the verge of being honoured with a milestone of half a century of caps for the national team but was not called up or used for at least ten matches since February.
'The Lion of Judah''s future with Bafana is in doubt with Broos in charge, as the Belgian has stated he will only recall the diminutive attacker if he starts playing regularly again or gets a new team where he becomes a regular, as he is out of favour at the Red Devils.
Instead the honour of reaching 50 caps before 2024 is out went to Williams, who joined his club mate Themba Zwane, for amassing half a century of games for Bafana during the AFCON qualifiers.
After Zwane clocked his 50th game for South Africa in a 5-0 win over Congo-Brazzaville, the Bafana captain reached the milestone in a 3-0 victory over South Sudan, in SA's last match of the year.
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Following Williams' nomination at the Ballon'Or awards for the Goalkeeper Of The Year award, the former SuperSport United goalminder has made the esteemed list as one of the nominees for the CAF Player of the Year, Goalkeeper of the Year and Inter Club Player of the Year awards.
After Tau won CAF Inter Club Player of the Year in December 2023, Williams is considered a favourite to win in that category that only includes players based in Africa, in the awards ceremony that will be held on 16 December.
There are only 30 players who have played 50 games or more for Bafana since re-admission in 1992.
