Retired legendary forward Manuel ‘Tico-Tico’ Bucuane has backed former Zimbabwe international Khama Billiat in his quest to join the centurions club on the South African Premiership’s all-time scoring charts.
Billiat, who recently ended his international career with Zimbabwe, is now on 95 goals playing for a PSL club and stands as the leading all-time scorer of all players still playing topflight football.
5 – Only five players in PSL history have scored more goals than Khama Billiat (95).
123 – Siyabonga Nomvethe
110 – Daniel Mudau
104 – Mabhuti Khenyeza
104 – Tico-Tico Bucuane
103 – Collins Mbesuma.Nobility. #DSTVPrem pic.twitter.com/9s6fvrvT1q
— OptaJabu (@OptaJabu) December 23, 2021
The Kaizer Chiefs kingpin has knocked hard enough to join a group featuring Siyabonga Nomvete, Daniel Mudau, Mabhuti Khenyeza, Tico-Tico and Collins Mbesuma as the only players to ever reach triple figures.
“Records are there to be broken and if a player like Khama breaks your record then it just further confirms his qualities,” Tico-Tico said in an interview with KickOff.com.
“He has the ability to go all the way and break the top record. These records have been sitting there for over 10 years, so it is about time that someone breaks them. It was always just a matter of time before someone surpasses it and we must just accept it.
“We have to accept that he is quality. As former players, we must acknowledge the quality of the players in this generation could be better as the demands are higher instead of being stuck in the past. This generation is facing different challenges in a game that has evolved and we can’t be jealous about it especially when they are doing well. No need to be jealous of Khama.
“Khama is not a traditional striker but is a clever player and now that he has regained his form, we all find joy watching him. With the other boy (Keagan Dolly) coming back it has triggered the trouble that we saw of them at Sundowns. Maybe it feels easier for Khama to play now with someone that he understands considering that he is a technical player. It is a marvel and pleasure to watch him,” says Tico-Tico.
Former Mozambican international Tico-Tico left domestic football a dozen years ago having scored 106 goals (two of them scored in the pre-PSL era) and was the first non-South African to reach triple figures.
The bulk of his goals came from playing for modest Jomo Cosmos before moving to SuperSport United during which he touched double figures on the scoring charts in seven of the first eight full seasons that he completed in the PSL.
He also played for Orlando Pirates and Maritzburg United but was already past his best by then having been slowed down by injuries.