Carlos Tevez
Boca Juniors striker to enter club politics when he retires in 2021
Rumours of Carlos Tevez’s imminent retirement broke late last November, leading “El Apache ”to immediately deny the reports, confirming he was staying at Boca Juniors. “When I take a decision about my future you’ll be the first to know!” he cheerily told supporters on Instagram.
Tevez’s contract with Boca ends later this year. He turns 37 in February, an age at which many players would be considering calling time. And yet, over 19 years since his debut for the club, Tevez signed off last year with some of the best form of his career.
He scored six goals in the last seven games of the 2019-20 league campaign to help Boca pip arch-rivals River Plate to the title on the final day last March. It was Tevez’s goal that secured the title, at home to Diego Maradona’s Gimnasia.
Perhaps the low number of games over the course of the year, due to the pandemic, benefitted senior players like Tevez. When the Copa Libertadores resumed in September, he was mobile and sharp, employed behind a main striker. With his brace against Caracas in the group stage, he joined Martin Palermo and Juan Roman Riquelme on the podium of Boca’s all-time top scorers in the competition. His goal against Internacional in the last 16 provided the opportunity for him – and Boca – to pay tribute to Maradona, unveiling one of El Diez’s Boca shirts beneath his own.
Aged 36, Tevez was Boca’s top goalscorer in the calendar year. The club’s recognised strikers like Franco Soldano and Ramon Abila were misfiring, meaning coach Miguel Angel Russo was looking to Tevez, as well as 30-year-old Eduardo Salvio, to score. And while Boca’s supporters have warmed to Salvio, Tevez is the last of the club’s idolos still playing.
Every December, Boca dust off the club’s photo album to pore over the memories and anniversaries from the early 2000s’ unprecedented success on the South American and international stage. Winning three Copa Libertadores titles in four years, Boca ratified their 2000 Intercontinental Cup win over Real Madrid with a defeat of the Milan of Maldini, Pirlo, Kaka and Shevchenko three years later for the same trophy.
Tevez made his debut in between those two trophies, touted as one of the most exciting young talents in world football. He was South America’s Player of the Year in 2003 and 2004, and again in 2005 after joining Corinthians. His success in Europe, in particular at the Manchester clubs and Juventus, only added to his legend. When he returned to Argentina in 2015, over 60,000 supporters packed out the Bombonera for his presentation.
Tevez enjoys cult status at Boca, arguably shared with only the likes of Riquelme and Maradona. Yet the question remains over how much longer he will play. And then there is another bigger question – what comes next?
The rumours of his retirement included versions to the effect that he would move into club politics under the former president Daniel Angelici, who lost the 2019 club elections after failing to come good on his promise of major silverware.
It is unclear what sort of capacity Tevez would occupy. He does have the experience of his contemporaries to consider. Diego Milito recently stepped down as football director at Racing over differences of opinion with the president, while Juan Sebastian Veron has been a successful president of Estudiantes since 2004. Closer to home, Riquelme is Boca’s vice-president, naturally overseeing the football department.
Tevez is expected to continue playing while Boca challenge for a recordequalling seventh Copa Libertadores crown (at the time of writing, Boca had progessed to the semi-finals). But here is the rub. Any success and silverware would further empower the board of directors who he may then run against in future club elections.
Tevez enjoys cult status at Boca, arguably shared with only the likes of Riquelme and Maradona