ARGENTINA: FOOTBALL/SOCCER: Argentines defend Carlos Tevez after Manchester City coach says he's "finished" for refusing to play a match. Tevez denies he refused

Record ID: 255138

  • Title: ARGENTINA: FOOTBALL/SOCCER: Argentines defend Carlos Tevez after Manchester City coach says he's "finished" for refusing to play a match. Tevez denies he refused
  • Date: 29th September 2011
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF BOCA STADIUM TEVEZ'S STAR ON BOCA'S WALK OF FAME
  • Embargoed: 14th October 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa, Argentina
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVADII8ZT181M5QHRJJ4SJPY48UJ
  • Story Text: Argentines rallied to the defence of Carlos Tevez on Wednesday (September 28) after the Manchester City coach said he was "finished" with the club because had refused to come on as a substitute in their Champions League match against Bayern Munich.
    Tevez denies he refused to follow the coach's orders and said he was ready to continue playing for the club.
    Manager Roberto Mancini told reporters that the Argentine had ignored his instruction to warm up early in the second half of Tuesday's 2-0 defeat in Germany.
    On Wednesday, local sports pages were dominated by the latest scandal surrounding Tevez, a local hero who emerged from a Buenos Aires slum and played at Boca Juniors before vaulting to international stardom.
    In the La Boca neighborhood, soccer fans Florencia Carballo and Nicol Gonzalez were behind Tevez.
    "The shouldn't have left him out because he has made goals in a lot of situations. And if he's going through a tough streak it's because it happens to everyone. He shouldn't be taken out. (NICOL GONZALEZ SAYING) With his personality, he'll leave for sure because he has a lot of teams that will call him and he can take advantage of this situation. The coach is going to be left wanting him back," he said.
    Tevez, who has found controversy follow him from club to club, sought to placate City fans whom he has already angered over the past year with his open desire to leave the club.
    If Mancini sticks to his guns, Tevez's words will fall on deaf ears at a club whose patience he has tested several times.
    Juan Ignacio Ferrer said a new club might be the best option for Tevez.
    "I think the team where he is playing doesn't value him. He has to go play for a team where he feels comfortable and where his teammates respect him. The truth is his reaction was good because if the coach doesn't want to start him he can't just put him in when he's desperate. He has to say, 'Either I start or I don't play. I', not a second option'," he said.
    Last December he put in a transfer request that the club turned down, while he lodged another at the end of the season citing family reasons.
    As Manchester was in an uproar over Tevez's behavior, Lino Gimenez said it was Mancini who needed an attitude adjustment.
    "I think the coach was wrong because he was playing him and should have kept on playing him. He made goals in a lot of matches. I think he needs to change his attitude," he said.
    Tevez planned to move to Brazilian club Corinthians last year, but the deal fell through and he was stripped of the club captaincy and found himself relegated to the bench as compatriot Sergio Aguero was paired with Edin Dzeko up front.
    Nicolas Lugano called his replacement an embarrassment.
    "It's an embarrassment. They took him out and put in Aguero. And it looks like he might come back to Boca. I think he should stay in Manchester because he made a lot of goals, but it's the coach's decision," he said.
    Although he has played well, Tevez has never seemed entirely comfortable in England. He made scathing comments about Manchester on an Argentine chat show in June, saying the city "has nothing" and is "very expensive" and that he was "never going back to Manchester, not even on holiday".
    The talented Tevez, who last season finished joint top scorer in the Premier League despite his wish to leave the club, also angered Mancini last year when he took extended leave to Argentina for the birth of his daughter.
    He was then at the centre of controversy this year on the Argentine national team when former Coach Sergio Batista failed to put him on the original list for the Copa America despite his strong performance in Europe.
    Batista eventually backtracked, but many speculated he had left the striker off the list because he was afraid the Tevez would hurt team harmony.
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