Bucuane blames Jomo for Cosmos' downfall

Former Jomo Cosmos striker and captain Manuel ˜Tico-Tico™ Bucuane says the relegation to the amateur ranks of one of the iconic football clubs in SA is devasting given the legacy built over the years.

Bucuane himself is a product of the work done by the legendary Jomo Sono, owner and coach of Ezenkosi, who launched his career in the Premier Soccer League as far back as 1997 and made the Mozambique international a household name. 

The 48-year-old, who spent eight years at Cosmos, scoring goals and helping them compete for honours as well as reaching the Top 8 consistently, tells SABC Sport that he is œdisappointed that Cosmos will now play in the ABC Motsepe League. 

"I was shocked and disappointed because Cosmos is the team that I started with in South Africa, and Jomo opened the door to the PSL for me."So, it's a club that means a lot to me. I think today people know me in South African football, if I made history, it was initially through Jomo Cosmos and they will always be in my heart.

"It was very sad to hear that the team has gone down to the amateurs. We worked so hard for that brand - many players, including South African and foreign players that went through Cosmos, worked hard to make it an established side."

The former SuperSport United stalwart also adds that Sono, 66, was too hands-on when he should have perhaps entrusted others to help him grow the club, but his reluctance, Tico-Tico says, is what led to his downfall.

"I also believe that Jomo could have made Cosmos a greater club, if he wanted to. What I understood was that he always wanted to have Cosmos under his control, he didn't allow other people to get involved, it was always his club," he added.

"You know how football is growing nowadays, it's a lot of investment around the game, technology, science and everything is coming into the game, so you definitely need people who understand that side of the game to help you.

"I guess Jomo never allowed that to happen, we've been criticising him all these years - people telling him he should hire other people to help him but he always said he'll rather do it himself.

"So, in a way, I think that was his downfall because football is growing so fast nowadays, it's a big industry. You cannot be a one-man show, so I think that was his downfall because it was very narrow vision, and I think he should have been more ambitious to grow the brand."

By Mazola Molefe