SOCCER: ENGLISH FA CUP FINAL: CARLOS TEVEZ has made a significant breakthrough in his bid to play in the FA Cup final and will almost certainly now be involved against Stoke City at Wembley on May 14th, after defying medical opinion at Manchester City to declare himself fit.
Tevez has even told Roberto Mancini that he can play in tomorrow’s game at Everton, after taking part in full training for the first time yesterday and reporting no problems after a practice match.
That is unlikely, with Mancini opting for a policy of better safe than sorry, but Tevez’s diagnosis is a considerable boost for the Eastlands club, coming only a few days after medical staff informed the club’s management they had little hope of the striker’s being involved at Wembley.
Tevez will undergo another scan to assess the hamstring injury that has kept him out of the past three games but there is clear evidence now that Mancini can be optimistic about a man who has scored 51 goals in 82 appearances for the club being involved in City’s first FA Cup final for 30 years.
Mancini rated Tevez’s chances as only “50 per cent” in a press conference held before yesterday’s training session and said it would be “impossible” to consider picking his leading scorer if he were not involved in Tuesday’s match against Tottenham. The Italian talked at length about the importance of his other players learning how to cope without Tevez and not being so reliant on his goals, a message delivered in part because of the feeling that Tevez is considering trying to engineer a move at the end of the season.
It sounded like Mancini was preparing for the possibility of Tevez missing Wembley, but the truth is that City are encouraged by the player’s progress after two and a half weeks of rehabilitation since he was forced off in the 3-0 defeat at Liverpool.
Tevez has been working with his own doctor, first in Milan and now in Manchester, and while that has caused a degree of friction behind the scenes it appears to be having its rewards. The 27-year-old, linked with Internazionale and Real Madrid, is making such strides that part of the focus is making sure he does not suffer a recurrence. If that is avoided, Tevez will be available for Tottenham, hoping not just to confirm City’s place in the Premier League’s top four but to prove that selecting him at Wembley will not be a risk. “He is an important player for us,” Mancini said. If Carlos does not play against Tottenham, he cannot play in the final.”
City are already planning for what could be life after Tevez next season. Alexis Sanchez of Udinese is on their radar and Mancini has already confirmed his admiration.
Guardian Service
