Carlos Tévez – War and Peace
“It is impossible to explain everything the streets taught me. And it was a lot.” – Carlos Tévez.
Murder, crime, drugs, weapons. These were everyday realities in the Buenos Aires neighborhood known as Fuerte Apache. This is where Carlos Alberto Martinez grew up. His mother was an alcoholic. His father was shot dead. It was clear from the beginning that every single day would bring enormous struggles. But above all, he would have to stare the devil in the eye.
“I didn’t have plastic surgery. Either you accept me for who I am, or you don’t. My scars are part of my past, and part of my present too. The same goes for my teeth. I’m not going to change.” – Carlos Tévez
At just ten months old, due to his mother’s negligence, boiling water was spilled over him. He suffered third-degree burns on his face, neck, and chest. Doctors fought for his life for two months in intensive care. After his recovery, he was adopted by his mother’s sister and her husband, Segundo Tévez. He was given a caring, loving family. They looked after him, made sure he was not out on the streets at night, where gang wars regularly broke out.
Little Carlitos, who had finally found peace, started playing football at the age of eight. Together with his childhood best friend, Darío “Cabañas” Coronel, he joined the All Boys youth team. Two friends. The same beginning. A very different ending.
Those who watched Darío play all agreed that he was the bigger talent. The ball seemed glued to his feet. But he lacked the family support needed to guide him in the right direction. Instead of the football pitch, he found his place in the ghetto. While Tévez was playing at the U17 World Cup, Cabañas, after a police chase, shot himself in the head at just 17 years old.
The tragedy hit Carlitos hard. From that moment on, he no longer played just for himself. He was driven by the memory of his friend. His performances caught the attention of his dream club, and Boca Juniors signed him. After an unremarkable first season, by 2003 everyone was talking about him. With the team, he won the league title, the Copa Libertadores, and the Intercontinental Cup against AC Milan.
To everyone’s surprise, however, his path did not lead to Europe. Instead, he moved to Brazil, to Corinthians. His playing rights ended up under questionable circumstances with a British businessman of Iranian origin and his investment funds, who formed a highly controversial partnership with Corinthians. Because of his Argentine background, he was welcomed into a hostile environment. But after everything he had already lived through as a child, this did not shake him at all.
Quite the opposite. At the end of the season, he was voted Player of the Year. After that, it was clear this relationship would not last long. In 2006, to the shock of the English football elite, West Ham United signed Tévez. The transfer caused a huge scandal. At the time, strict regulations governed third-party ownership of player rights, and as a result, the club was heavily fined by the authorities.
Thanks to Tévez, West Ham avoided relegation. He scored seven goals in his final ten matches. On the last day of the season, they defeated champions Manchester United away at Old Trafford, with Tévez scoring the decisive goal. And with that, a new chapter began.
“In my opinion, I don’t think he was worth £25 million. He was popular with the supporters. Fans rightly have their heroes, and I was happy to agree to the deal as long as it made sense, but quite simply, he was not worth £25 million.” – Sir Alex Ferguson
The Argentine striker’s arrival at Manchester United in 2007 was exciting and complicated. The transfer was heavily delayed by legal disputes between West Ham and the investment funds. The English FA, FIFA, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport were all involved. In the end, West Ham received compensation to release Tévez from his contract, while Manchester United initially took the Argentine forward on loan for two years.
He did what he always did. He became a key player. He contributed 14 goals to the Premier League title and scored five times in the Champions League during their victorious campaign. The following season, his place in the starting lineup became uncertain. Much of this stemmed from tactical maneuvering surrounding his permanent transfer.
Tévez had had enough. And he made a move no one had made before. He signed for Manchester United’s fiercest rivals, Manchester City.
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“City showed me that they want to become one of the biggest clubs in the world, and I was happy to join.” – Carlos Tévez
He arrived as a savior. And the beginning was magical. In his first season, both teammates and fans voted him the team’s best player. They went on to win the FA Cup and the Premier League trophies the club’s supporters had waited more than 40 years for. After 73 matches, he already had 50 goals.
Then peace was once again replaced by war. In the autumn, during a Champions League match against Bayern Munich, with City trailing 2-0, Roberto Mancini attempted to bring Tévez on from the bench. Tévez refused to come on. The consequences were severe: suspension and a heavy fine followed. After apologizing, he returned to the team, but by then, every part of him wanted to leave.
“I feel it is my duty and my desire to win the Scudetto with Juventus, and obviously everyone wants to win the Champions League.” – Carlos Tévez
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In the summer of 2013, the striker nicknamed “Apache” joined Italy’s most decorated club for just 9 million euros. Juventus knew exactly what they were taking on. Based on his contracts and his relationships with previous coaches, they were signing a player who was always considered problematic. But on the pitch, he was a rock, commanding respect through his performances.
At the end of his first season, he won the league title. With 19 goals, he finished on the podium of the Serie A scoring charts and was voted Juventus Player of the Year. All while carrying the weight quite literally on the back of Alessandro Del Piero’s iconic number 10 shirt.
But Tévez arrived in Torino with a mission. He pushed himself even harder. In the following season, he won another Scudetto, another Juventus Player of the Year award, and was also named Serie A Player of the Year. In the Champions League, he scored seven goals to help Juventus reach the final, where Barcelona ultimately prevailed.
After all that, at the very peak of his career, in the summer of 2015, Carlitos returned to his childhood dream, Boca Juniors, for 6.5 million euros. He came home. It had never been a secret that he wanted to finish his career there.
He briefly went “on vacation” to China, but eventually returned home for good, found peace, and helped the Buenos Aires club win more league titles. Carlos Tévez was always an energy bomb. A relentless fighter who had to battle constantly. For his life. Against poverty. Against coaches. And he won. Always.
By: Krisztián Horváth / Regular Contributor at Gentleman Ultra
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Amilcar Orfali / Getty Images