Legendary PSL striker Manuel 'Tico-Tico' Bucuane has revealed his wasted years at Jomo Cosmos and how he wishes he had met Pitso Mosimane earlier in his career.
Tico-Tico scored 88 goals for Cosmos in topflight football and following brief stints in China and USA he was only able to move to another local club in July 2004 when Pitso Mosimane recruited him to SuperSport United just before he turned 31.
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A decade since he retired, he tells KickOff about his challenges.
"I hope I knew what I know now back then because I would have made different decisions with my career," says Tico-Tico, who turns 50 next year.
"I left myself to sleep at Cosmos and got to be comfortable because the environment was good, and I was playing my best football but forgot to make money for my life.
"I was not wise enough since I didn't have any people around me to advise and make me see the bigger picture and I ended up wasting my time there.
"The money wasn't good enough even and I was blinded by that I could eat, buy clothes, put rims in my car but what about saving for the future?
"Jomo wasn't even advising us about money, and I only knew about investing when I went to SuperSport and started earning significant money.
"I had my first conversation about investing when I was 30 and that with Pitso (Mosimane) at SuperSport.
"Pitso was a blessing in my life even though the time that I had was now shorter.
"Pitso always insisted that when you get your signing-on fees pay off your property.
"He was someone who could see beyond the football match and that is important," discloses Tico-Tico speaking from home in Maputo.
"I turned 23 at Cosmos and was going to turn 31 when I left for SuperSport.
"However, my best years which I spent at Cosmos I never got paid enough for that because the money I got there was for the moment and not the future, especially for us who didn't have the education to fall back on.
"That is why I say sometimes you must be crazy and force a move out so that you make money for your future and here I'm talking about Europe where they make a lot of money not just here in Africa.
"The players must do whatever they have to do to take advantage of their situation because you must look after yourself.
"No one will bother about you when you stop playing but they will be making fun of you when you can't afford the house and car.
"To avoid that you must be greedy and if you have a chance to go and earn more just go for it.
"Back then we never had agents or advisors so I feel it is important for players to understand the football space which looks glorious from a distance but can be vicious," he says.
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