Carlos Tevez created quite the sideshow during Manchester City's UEFA Champions League loss to Bayern Munich on Tuesday after refusing to enter the match as a substitute.
After acknowledging that he wouldn't go into the match, the Argentine striker is now backtracking a bit with his latest public comments.
Tevez released a statement in which he said: "In Munich on Tuesday I had warmed up and was ready to play. This is not the right time to get into specific details as to why this did not happen. But I wish to state that I never refused to play. There was some confusion on the bench and I believe my position may have been misunderstood."
City manager Roberto Mancini blasted the player in his post-match remarks and indicated that if it's up to him, Tevez will never play for City again.
"He has wanted to leave for the last two years," Mancini told reporters. "For two years I have helped him, and now he has refused to play. Never again."
Here are a few more items from around the soccer world:
VILLAS-BOAS: LAMPARD NOT LEAVING
After Frank Lampard was left on the bench for Chelsea's league match against Swansea City, fervent talk of the veteran midfielder potentially leaving the club made the rounds.
Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas put those rumors to rest, saying that benching him was nothing more than a tactical decision for that game and that Lampard certainly has a future with the team.
"He is a spectacular team player and professional, and I hope he will continue to succeed in this club for many years to come, as long as I am here," Villas-Boas said.
HUDDLESTONE NEEDS ANKLE SURGERY
Tottenham midfielder Tom Huddlestone is set to miss an extended period of time after it was discovered that he needs more surgery to repair his ankle.
Huddlestone dealt with this problem last season and missed five months of action before returning for the stretch run. He has appeared as a substitute in four matches this season while playing through the injury.
SOUTH AFRICA GETS 2013 CUP OF NATIONS
With all of the unrest going on in Libya, the Confederation of African Football has awarded the finals of the 2013 African Cup of Nations to South Africa.
South Africa was supposed to host the 2017 tournament, but that one will go to Libya instead in a swap that is being made in the best interest of all parties.
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What do you make of the Tevez mess? What did you make of Lampard being benched against Swansea. Do you think he has a future at Chelsea? How do you think Huddlestone's injury changes things for Spurs?
Share your thoughts below.
edit: He makes as much as a doctor in a week….
I just…i dont understand this at all. He gets paid i would say about 200 thousand a week! Which means he makes more in a week than some players in mls will make in 3 or 4 years! He makes as much as a doctor…a person who saves lives in a week…while he doesnt save lives he just entertains, he plays a game we all enjoy to play and watch…and he refuses to play for the club that pays him? for the fans that by his jersey and put it on their back. what a prima dona, im not even a city fan but how disgusting and as a red bull fan i thought marquez’s comments where bad? At least he didnt refuse to play. I am disgusted
so the question is could City even sell this guy now? I can’t imagine a serious club would want to deal with this knucklehead. Maybe NY Red Bulls could pick him up….
I’m sure Lampard will step it up, he just needs his teammates to draw more penalty kicks so he can start scoring goals again.
Come on Torres, score
Answer, I think Micheal F. is saying that Villas-Boas’ statement about Lampard is “not far behind” the agent-prepared statement from Tevez. Maybe I’m wrong.
Either way, Lampard is done. He will come play in the MLS (oops, did I say that out loud).
And, no I’m not a Eurosnob. I love my Galaxy and love seeing guys I played with continue the dream…
I think he only knows grunts.
Exactly. What a wuzz. If you’re going to refuse to play then at least be a man, stick to your guns and accept the consequences. Tevez is not a man. He is forever a wuzz.
Slow. Slow. Slow. Slow. You are thinking of the Frank Lampard of 2006/2007. The 2011 version is nowhere near the same player.
First of all, they are English so thoughts of winning the World Cup with those two should have been immediately dismissed as fanciful. Second, Gerrard is 31 and Lampard is 33. Both are on the serious backside of their career. That they are no longer world-class players shouldn’t come as surprise to anyone.
That was the most ridiculous agent-prepared “statement” I have heard yet.
And why was his position misunderstood? Did his tongue get caught between his frot teeth?
Not far behind is sitting Lampard for “tactical” reasons. Really? He doesn’t make the 18?
Big mistake by Manchester City, not selling Tevez to Corinthians. The offer was pretty good. After these antics it will be tough for City to get what they want for Tevez in January.
Its amazing Chelsea is playing so well without Lampard and Liverpool played so well (end of last season) without Gerrard. These were players the English fans thought would win the World Cup for England.
Guessing his agent made him recant, $$$$$
Force the guy into an adu-like situation with aris where he can’t even practice with the full team. He doesn’t deserve to see the pitch with that attitude.
Tevez makes me hope that the laws so stand in England that he could be forced to make good on City’s lost wages.
Tevez can go. Man City has Dzeko and Aguero and they’re both younger and less “hotheads”
Seriously Tevez has spent 5 years in England and still knows zero English?
Anytime you get a “head case” in the locker room it’s time to part ways. His behavior and statements over the last two years have shown little loyalty to Mand City, so why should they keep paying this guy top coin, while putting up with disrespectful, ridiculous behavior. He left his team high and dry when he was assuredly needed against Bayern, and at the end of the day, the name on the front of the jersey matters more than the one on the back. There are plenty of quality players out there that they could go after in the winter transfer window.
Anyone with any stones would ship Tevez out immediately. I have never seen someone behaving like this.