Tico-Tico credits CAF for Africa's rise

by Staff Reporter

Thursday Jan 26, 2023. 13:00

Mozambique’s favourite son, Manuel ‘Tico-Tico’ Bucuane, has pointed to Morocco’s exploits at the 2022 World Cup as testament to the work being put in by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

The Atlas Lions became the first African team to reach the semi-finals at the global showpiece and endeared themselves to football fans across the globe with their performances in Qatar.

Tico-Tico, who represented the Mambas at the Africa Cup of Nations on three occasions and is their all-time leading scorer with 30 goals in 94 appearances, has credited CAF for raising the game to new levels on the continent.

The former Jomo Cosmos star believes CAF president Dr Patrice Motsepe’s vision of seeing Africa competing for glory at the highest level is closer to being realised.

“I think CAF has done an exceptional job in recent times in taking African football to greater heights,” he told CAFOnline.

“The growth that the various CAF competitions has seen is truly remarkable and it continues to be on the rise.

“The quality of the product looks great on TV and more and more people are following African football. There is of course a lot of work that still needs to be done but we have to give credit where it’s due.”