Did you Know?
Tevez was born Carlos Alberto Martínez by his mother’s surname in Ciudadela, Buenos Aires Province, and raised in the neighbourhood of Ejército de Los Andes, better known as “Fuerte Apache”. It was from there that he got the nickname of “El Apache”. His biological parents were Juan Alberto Cabral and Fabiana “Trina” Martínez. He was adopted by his mother’s sister Adriana Noemí Martínez and her husband Segundo Raimundo Tévez. His adopted parents changed his surname to his adopted father’s during a conflict between his junior club All Boys and Boca Juniors. Tevez has a distinctive burn scar that runs down his neck from his right ear to his chest. He was accidentally scalded with boiling water as a child, which caused third-degree burns and kept him hospitalised in intensive care for nearly two months. After joining Boca Juniors, Tevez refused an offer from the club to have them cosmetically improved, saying that the scars were a part of who he was in the past and who he is today. Tevez is known for his tango flare goal celebrations ever since playing for Boca Juniors, as well with Corinthians of Brazil. During his time at Manchester United, he would hide a baby’s dummy in his shorts and put it in his mouth after scoring a goal as a commemorative gesture to his baby daughter. Since his move to Manchester City, Tevez has often performed a dance where he puts his hands together, bends down and rocks his body; this dance has been named after him as the “Tevez Dance”.
Did you Know?
On 29 December 2016, Tevez signed for Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua, on a reported annual salary of $41 million, which would make him the world’s highest-paid football player. Tevez subsequently played down the reports he became the highest-paid player in the world following his move, saying, “My salary isn’t as high as the legends.” He made his league debut on 5 March in the first round of the 2017 Chinese Super League against Jiangsu Suning, also scoring his first goal in the match, from the penalty spot in the first half in his team’s 4–0 win. He also assisted his club’s first and fourth goals, both scored by Giovanni Moreno. He was criticised during his time in Shanghai for being overweight and unfit to play. Tevez described his time in China as a “holiday”. On 5 January 2018, Boca Juniors announced on their social media that Tevez had rejoined the club.
