Carlos Tevez's Manchester City teammates offer support, admiration

Posted Sunday, July 17, 2011 by YAHOO Sport

Between the homesickness, transfer demands, and Argentina's dismal performance in the Copa America, it hasn't been the best of summers for Manchester City star Carlos Tevez.

After his penalty miss cost Argentina a shootout victory over Uruguay in the quarterfinals on Saturday, capping a poor showing from the expectant host nation, Tevez's Manchester City manager and teammates lent support to the beleaguered forward.

"I'm very sorry for him because for Argentina it was very important," said Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini after the team's 2-0 exhibition win over Mexico's Club América.

Mancini indicated that he planned to speak with Tevez in the coming days.

The Argentine forward recently declared his intentions to leave Manchester City, where he played a vital role in leading the club to Champions League qualification in the 2010-11 season, not to mention an FA Cup title. Tevez, however, stated a desire to leave Manchester in order to move closer to his family, who still live in Buenos Aires. He is believed to be the subject of a 40 million euros bid from Brazilian giant Corinthians, the team he played for between 2004-06.

Tevez's teammates expressed great admiration for Tevez as a player, but conceded that it was not up to them whether he stayed or left. Manchester City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips said, "I'd love him to stay, but sometimes you have to understand a player's personal reasons, but we'll fight for him as much as the club wants."

"He's a great player and any team with Carlos will be a strong team, but players move and players come, it happens in football," added Manchester City defender Vincent Kompany, who could be in line to replace Tevez as club captain. "The team is bigger than any player, whether it's me, Carlos or any other player in the team."

Even so, Tevez, who scored 20 Premier League goals to claim the league's Golden Boot title and added three goals in City's FA Cup run, would be a difficult player for the team to replace. Kompany compared his situation to that of another wantaway South American striker.

"We had great players like Robinho and other players that moved on and with them it's great, without them we'll find a solution," he said.

With Edin Dzeko and Wright-Phillips finding the mark against a tough America side, drawing praise from Mancini, Kompany just might be on to something.