AFTER seven years of service at Simba SC, veteran striker John Bocco was bade farewell by the club last week, having served it successfully.

Bocco, who joined Simba in the 2017/18 season after featuring for Azam FC, won four Mainland Tanzania Premier League titles, two Federation Cup tournament titles, five Community Shields, one Mapinduzi Cup title, and one Muungano Cup title with the Msimbazi Street-based side.

Time has flown fast, given halfway through the just-ended season, Bocco turned into coaching - serving as Simba's U-17 squad's new gaffer.

This might be a good start for the former talisman, as young strikers rising from local clubs' youth ranks will have a role model to look up to in terms of longevity and goal-scoring prowess.

Bocco is one of the Mainland Tanzania Premier League strikers boasting longevity and goal-scoring prowess in recent years.

The likes of Meddie Kagere, Chris Mugalu, Fiston Mayele, and George Mpole have, in recent years, shown extraordinary goal-scoring form in the league. Still, the quartet lacked the longevity backed by the goal-scoring form that Bocco had.

Bocco is Mainland Tanzania Premier League all-time goal scorer with 154 goals he netted during his time at Simba and Azam, breaking the record set by former Young Africans striker Mohamed Hussein, alias 'Mmachinga', who netted 153 goals.

Arguments can be made that at 34 years old, Bocco would still have what it takes to play for any team in the Mainland Tanzania Premier League and register goals.

Players of the same age, including Erasto Nyoni, Kelvin Yondani, Salum Abubakar, and Shomari Kapombe, are playing in the league.

Tanzania's football stakeholders believe Bocco could still play for another club and bang in goals, apart from excelling for the national team - a team that has seen him make 74 appearances and notch 14 goals.

Other followers could claim that his injury record - which slowed his goal-scoring form in his last two seasons - made his retirement a wise move.

It is rare for a Mainland Tanzania Premier League side to have a local striker playing at the top level for 10 consecutive years. The majority of them showcase their talents for either one or two seasons and never recover.

Where are Jerry Tegete, Hussein Javu, Said Bahanuzi, Elias Maguli, and many others who played impressively in the Mainland Tanzania Premier League for a few seasons and later on fizzled out?

As captain of Azam and Simba, Bocco won the league title and the Golden Boot prize with both clubs. His discipline backed by his longevity contributed to his quality in front of goal.

In today's world, it is hard for a football fan, particularly in Tanzania, to come across a top striker of Bocco's caliber with no scandals on and off the field.

Local football has produced many goalkeepers, defenders, and midfielders that have played at the top level in the country for many years, but Bocco showed it is possible for strikers to do the same.

Bocco has shone for 16 seasons since featuring for Azam in 2007, having led the outfit to win promotion to the Premier League during the playoffs which were held in Dodoma.

As the towering attacker goes to retirement, there is no direct replacement for him, thus, the question is who will wear his shoes? 

Waziri Junior, now 28, has had ups and downs while failing to showcase his goal-scoring form with Azam and Young Africans in different tenures.

Since Bocco left Azam in 2017, the club has hardly acquired a proven local striker who scored over 10 goals for three consecutive seasons, the same question goes to his other former outfit Simba.

Habib Kyombo, Charles Ilanfya, and Yusuph Mhilu were projected as footballers who would become top strikers at Simba but failed to replicate the form they showcased in their previous clubs.

Kyombo had, before moving to Simba, been featuring for Singida Big Stars, Ilanfya was previously playing for Kinondoni Municipal Council FC and Mhilu had been playing for Kagera Sugar.

When a soccer fan looks at Young Africans, the club’s promising striker Clement Mzize has great qualities - a good physique ideal for a center forward and pace - but he is not clinical in front of goal.

This is why Mzize's numbers have, at the end of his participation in the past two Mainland Premier League seasons, not been pleasing.

Mzize, at 20 years old, has many years to become a top striker if he would work on his finishing skills.

Bocco scored 14 goals in top-flight football in his second season, and in the third season, he scored 19 goals to become the top goal-scorer, can Mzize replicate such a feat?

It is hard for a soccer follower to have a direct answer, for Mzize to score consecutively he needs to be clinical and play regularly at Young Africans.

He hardly plays much because he is not clinical in front of goal, and that is why foreign strikers Kennedy Musonda (Zambia) and Joseph Guede (Ivory Coast) start ahead of him.

Tanzania's senior national football team is mainly fed by Mainland Premier League clubs but there is a challenging aspect that the majority of the country’s top teams have foreign forwards.

The clubs have opted for such a move simply because local strikers have failed to reach the standard players like Bocco set at Simba and Azam, and, possibly at Young Africans, a club he has not played for.

During Bocco's time at Simba, he went toe-to-toe with strikers like Emmanuel Okwi and Kagere, a two-time Mainland Tanzania Premier League top goal-scorer.

Kagere scored 20+ goals in two consecutive seasons while Bocco came close with 15+ goals in each of the two seasons before winning the Golden Boot prize in 2020/21 with Simba, having scored 16 goals and ended ahead of teammates, Mugalu with 15 goals and Kagere with 13 goals.

This signifies Bocco's prowess and dedication on training grounds. The forward transformed the two aspects into league games and forced every coach he played under to start him in matchday squads and, later, he became the Mainland Tanzania Premier League all-time goal-scorer.

Do the country's top clubs allow local strikers to grow? Some football fans may say these teams do not have time to wait for local players to grow because of the outfits' short-term plans, which have come about thanks to the failure of local forwards to impress for a long time.

Bocco has done his share with plenty of success and, as he embarks on his new journey as a coach starting at Simba's U-17 team, the young ballers will surely be motivated to become great footballers because they have an idol they can look up to.

Through his experience as a top player, he would pass his footballing knowledge to the young players aspiring to become top strikers in the country.