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Tau on target to earn South Africa vital point

Mixed fortunes for Albion's internationals as World Cup qualifying gets under way.

By Bruce Talbot • 26 March 2021

By Paul Hazlewood
Percy Tau was on the scoresheet for South Africa in a 1-1 draw with Ghana.

Percy Tau praised his South Africa team-mates after scoring a precious equaliser for South Africa.

The Albion striker netted a second-half equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Ghana as qualification for the Africa Cup of Nations continued.

South Africa were missing several key players because of Covid-19 restrictions but Tau, who came off with a knock in the second half, felt they deserved a point. 

He said, “I'm proud of our guys and I think they tried very hard. Because of the restrictions we had a few players who haven't played at this level. I think our fans will understand we are still trying to win games despite that, but such results are part of football.”

Albion pair Jayson Molumby and Shane Duffy will be hoping to get Ireland's World Cup qualifying campaign up and running today (Saturday).

The Irish lost 3-2 to Serbia on Wednesday when Aaron Connolly and Molumby, who is on loan with Preston, both started.

Connolly has been ruled out of tonight's Dublin date with Luxembourg with a calf injury, which will also keep him out of a friendly against Qatar on Tuesday.

Ireland boss Stephen Kenny has yet to win a game but that will surely change against the Group A minnows.

Jakub Moder played for an hour on Thursday as Poland shared six goals with Hungary in Budapest in their Group I opener. Poland are back in action on Sunday at home to Andorra before heading to Wembley on Wednesday.

Leandro Trossard came on for the final minute for Belgium when they kicked off their qualifying campaign with a 3-1 home win over Wales. The Red Devils are in the Czech Republic tonight for their second qualifier before hosting Belarus on Tuesday.

Holland aim to get back on track after losing 4-2 to Turkey on Wednesday they face Latvia in Amsterdam tonight. Albion defender Joel Veltman was an unused sub against the Turks.

Spain were held to a 1-1 draw by Greece on Thursday in Grenada, with Robert Sanchez on the bench after his first call-up to the senior squad. Spain are in Georgia on Sunday before taking on Kosovo at home on Wednesday.

Swiss striker Andi Zeqiri made an eye-catching contribution to their deserved 1-0 win over England in the European U21 Championships. The Albion striker is in action again on Sunday when Switzerland face Croatia