Carlos Tevez cemented his status as an Argentine hero as he fired his country into the last four of the Copa America on the same day his fairytale move back to Boca Juniors was confirmed.
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Tevez emerged the hero of a nerve-shredding 5-4 penalty shootout win over Colombia as he stepped up to ram home the decisive kick after Jeison Murillo had blazed over the bar. It was also a moment of sweet redemption for Tevez, who hadmissed the crucial penalty when Argentina went out in a shoot-out at the 2011 tournament.
Tevez couldn’t hide his delight after his contribution to victory – four years after his nightmare miss saw La Albiceleste go out to Uruguay at the same stage on home soil.
“In soccer there’s always a second chance,” said Tevez. “But tonight is not about me, it’s about my team-mates. My team-mates won this match and I’m very proud of them, and I’m proud to be part of this squad.”
Argentina coach Gerardo Martino admitted that he had deliberately omitted Tevez from his list of five designated penalty takers for the shoot-out in order to ease pressure on the former Manchester City striker.
#CA2015 | Gol de Carlos Tevez que le dio el triunfo a #Argentina ante #Colombia en la tanda de penales (5-4). https://t.co/QkrH8AnZLh (Vine)
— Futbol Al Dia7 (@Futbolaldia7) June 27, 2015
“I didn’t put Tevez among the top five because the last time he shot, Argentina went out. We wanted to avoid that,” Martino revealed.
“We tried to prevent him having to go up and take one but eventually it came around to him and that’s football.”
During the match Boca announced they had finalised a deal to bring Tevez back to La Bombonera – the place where his career began.
Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool and Atletico Madrid had also been rumoured to be interested in signing him from Juventus, who he helped fire to a domestic double and a Champions League final with a haul of 29 goals last term.
“It is a day of joy and great satisfaction,” Boca president Daniel Angelici said. “The return of Carlos Tevez in an extraordinary moment of his career is fantastic news for all partners and supporters of Boca and Argentine football.
“The presence of Carlos will give another leap in quality to the great squad we have.”
