Carlos Tevez shows he had not come back home to relax but to play
Something very special indeed had to occur for Carlos Tevez to be upstaged on his emotional return to the Bombonera. Jonathan Calleri duly obliged. The Boca Juniors forward came up with an inspired rabona shot which marked the club’s second of the afternoon on Saturday against Quilmes, on the way to a 2-1 victory which keeps the Xeneize at the top of the pile. Tevez could not find the net, but nevertheless the darling of the Boca terraces proved that he had not come back home to relax.
The ex-Juventus man enjoyed the adulation of thousands of fans in his official presentation on Tuesday, and was in great form at the weekend despite his blank. Two shots crashed against the bar, and he was a constant headache to the Quilmes backline with his mazy dribbling and unerring passing. More than anything else, Tevez is a symbol of Argentine soccer who, at 31, gives the sport immeasurable legitimacy by choosing to return in his prime. The forward could have earned fortunes by choosing to stay in Europe, but his Boca comeback after 10 years of globetrotting came about by the heart winning over logic and economic considerations.
Carlitos, moreover, was just one example of the pull of the terraces in a weekend to remember for club icons. Fernando Cavenaghi, with a gut slowly spilling over his waistband due to the advance of time, his unkempt mane of hair and constant three-day stubble, is the living image of the working-class boy turned star. Cavegol, as he is known to the River Plate faithful, showed that even at 31 he can still produce the goods with four goals against Rafaela in a splendid 5-1 drubbing. Over in Avellaneda there were similar scenes. Diego Milito, the elder statesman of Racing Club whose two titles are separated by 13 years and a career of success in Spain and Italy, showed his poaching instincts to put La Academia ahead at home to Sarmiento. The 36-year-old was pulled off towards the end to another standing ovation.
It is those kinds of scenes which drive the world’s most successful soccer players to return to the league which saw them take their first steps. Financial pressures often see the best local stars sold barely out of their teenage years to clubs in Europe, giving supporters little time to savour their skills. Tevez left Argentina at the tender age of 20 for Corinthians in Brazil, while Cavenaghi chose the same moment to try his luck in Russia; Milito, a late-bloomer in the soccer world, moved at a relatively late 24. But the pull of the crowds does not go away; neither does the dream of a triumphant return.
Humberto Maschio was arguably the pioneer in making a heroic comeback when, in the 1960s, he started a second spell with Racing after great success in Italy and was rewarded with Libertadores Cup and Intercontinental Cup glory. Since those sepia-tinted days, the likes of Daniel Passarella, Diego Maradona, Juan Sebastián Verón and Juan Román Riquelme have all made emotional returns to former clubs. But it is not a guaranteed recipe for success.
Plenty of big names have found that past reputations win you little patience when confronted with the win-at-all-cost mentality of local soccer. Nostalgia can also turn very easily into crushing disappointment. Pablo Aimar saw his dreams of Libertadores Cup success with River turn to dust when the veteran playmaker was omitted from the club list for the semifinals onwards. At 35, and with no little confusion and acrimony, this week he decided to walk away from soccer having battled against injury throughout 2015. “I would have done the same as Gallardo,” he confessed, referring to the decision to strike him off the squad. Aimar may have wanted one last shot at glory with his beloved Millonarios, but this time there was no happy ending for another of soccer’s prodigal sons.
@danedwardsgoal
Source: Buenos Aires Herald