1984. The small city of Ciudadela in the Argentinian capital is the provenance of our story’s subject, not a good neighbourhood to be raised in, with all the drugs, violence and poverty, but it was this city that gave Carlos Alberto Tevez his first nickname – “Apache”. Resources were’nt easy pickings and Tevez had 4 siblings; I’ll leave it at that. Get the drift? Tevez’s child hood was tough, period. This being said, he does not want to wipe it off his memory, not by a long shot. The scars we see down his face and neck were a result of an accident with boiling water back in the days of his infancy, and he has carried them stoically, even impudently for some – till date, a trophy for his troubles and a reminder of his past. Almost biblical, stuff cults are founded on…
Football was a temporary escape from reality if anything, well, for all but Carlos, and thank god for that. He was 8 when his soccer skills were spotted by an Argentine youth coach. By 14 he found his stead in the country’s youth teams, and at 17 he made his senior debut for Boca Juniors; tantalizingly close to stardom – the first chapter of what I can only describe as a very curious carrier. A receptacle of natural talent, Tevez was anointed the most valuable player in Copa Libertadores‘03 (only the most prestigious club competition in S.A Football!), and also won the Copa Sudamericana, and an Intercontinental Cup. A couple of years more of “Joga Bonito” and he added 9 individual achievements to his professional dossier, including an Olympic Gold medal, three times S.A. player of the year and Best Player – Campeonato Brasileiro Série A ’05 with Corinthians, a Brazilian club. This was it, Carlos Tevez had arrived, and was snapped by West ham United in 2006 along with his compatriot Javier Mascherano to play in the Barclay’s Premier League, arguably the biggest stage in club football and the most watched league in the world. Fans, global fame Ahoy!!
Tevez’s stint with “the Hammers” was riddled with controversy right from the word go, West Ham had been fined £5.5m for omitting details of the transfers from official records, and the row just refused to cool down. This however, did not stop our protagonist from scoring the only goal against Manchester United in the last game of the season and save West Ham from relegation, some season! Fit to be an Alfred Hitchcock movie, and an equally fitting climax to his West Ham United days.
– Carlos Tevez.To not be relegated was incredible for us, we’d been written off as dead. Absolutely incredible.
On 10 August 2007, United’s proposal for a two year loan deal was approved and Tevez donned the Reds’ jersey, starting in place of an injured Wayne Rooney five days later against Portsmouth. The inevitable first goal came against Chelsea, and he celebrated by sprinting towards his daughter and wife, arms outstretched. He continued scoring goals, whenever he was given a chance but unfortunately could never really fit in at Old Trafford. On not being offered a permanent contract, Tevez made his dissatisfaction apparent. United Finally did agree to meet the option fee for signing him permanently but Tevez no longer wished for it. He signed a contract with Manchester City, becoming only the second player to directly transfer from United to their cross-city rivals.
Manchester City FC had seen recent change in ownership and the new management spared no expense (still does’nt!) in signing high profile players, rebuilding a new team of match-winners. Carlos Tevez was crucial to their plans and it did not take a long time for the management to figure this out. He is perfect for central role in City’s 4-3-3 and carried the Captains armband for the recently concluded BPL season. Carlos Tevez has played his role well, scoring 20 goals and sharing the Golden Boot with United’s Dimitar Berbatov. An obvious observation – City does look like a new team, a team to beat; finishing third in points table and having won the FA cup, the first major win in over 30 years
Manchester didn’t quite manage to grow up on Tevez, who still feels estranged in the north west. This, and the homesickness issues do not help one bit. “No amount of money, no cars and the lifestyle can make up for the moment when I leave my two daughters at the airport” says Tevez who wishes, above all, to be with his family back in Argentina. Tevez put in a transfer request in January and in reply was offered a “very lucrative” new contract after the FA cup win. Futile it appears, in the present state of affairs.
Uncertainties are in vogue, but I am sure its going to be a very nervy summer for the Manchester City fans. City have slapped a price tag in range of £50m for his transfer bid, according to the club website (The Times of India reports it to be £100 million!). The big Sheikh Mansour has given Tevez his space to make this decision and the Star on £286000-a-week just might, and leave Manchester only for better things to come… because like always, The Apache will pick himself up, dust himself off and dazzle us all.
