South Africa forward Percy Tau received a lot of criticism for alleged 'selfishness' after defeat to Mali. Former Bafana Bafana winger Siphiwe Tshabalala has given his view on the matter.
Tau was seen as the main culprit, particularly on social media, following Bafana's 2-0 loss to Mali in the Africa Cup of Nations group opener.
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After Hugo Broos' charges were awarded a penalty, it appeared as if Teboho Mokoena was going to take the spot-kick after holding the ball with the body language of wanting to take the penalty.
However, Tau intervened and took the penalty instead but fired his spot-kick over the crossbar.
In addition to discussions on whether he should have let Mokoena take it, the former Mamelodi Sundowns forward was also criticised and labelled 'selfish' for not passing the ball in good areas in the box, seemingly to make amends for his missed spot-kick.
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Tshabalala, who attended the game in Korhogo as one of CAF's legends, says Tau did well to take the responsibility of the penalty as the most experienced player and that he showed 'leadership' in continuing to 'fight' despite a penalty miss.
"In most cases when you miss such a big opportunity, you'll drop your head and your game would just drop drastically," Tshabalala said on Radio 2000's Game On.
"And with Percy, it was a different case. After that he didn't drop his head, he kept fighting, kept pushing, kept trying, that's what we need, to take responsibility.
"He was one of our best players, we rely heavily on him and his experience as well. So what he did was leadership. It happened, you cannot stay there forever, you have to move, try again and make sure that you create those chances and get more involved," he added.