Carlos Tevez refused to learn English after his uncle became alcoholic following Falklands War

Former Manchester United striker Carlos Tevez has revealed one of the reasons he refused to learn English during his seven year spell in the Premier League.

Tevez played for three Premier League clubs — including West Ham, Manchester United and Man City — but during those spells he didn’t bother to learn the English language, which must have been challenging at times. He joined West Ham in 2006 before winning the title at both United and City.

This meant that if team-mates or staff wanted to speak to Tevez, they would have to do so in Spanish only.

When speaking to Argentinian radio station DSportsRadio, Tevez explained that it was his uncle’s experiences in the Falklands War that shaped his animosity towards England.

“I had a cultural problem with the English,” Tevez said. “I didn’t want to learn English, I wanted them to learn Spanish.

“I have an uncle who played in River Plate. He’s the only River supporter in my family. He played in the reserve team and when he was going to make his debut with the first team, he got called up to fight in the Falklands War.

“He suffered after that and became an alcoholic. That marked me a lot because he was very close to me.”

This obviously hit close to home for Tevez, therefore, it’s something that he feels strongly about.

Tevez added: “The seven years I spent in England were: ‘Okay, I’m here for work but I’m not getting used to English culture. Everything has a reason.

“Very few people know this story but today I can tell it.

“You want to speak to me. Then you learn Spanish, because I’m not going to learn English.”

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7 Comments

  1. Idiot. So he likes English money, but not the English!

    If he felt that strongly against English and Falklands, he wold not have come here at all. He is only disguising the fact that he is too thick to learn another language!

  2. That’s his position,.He has his personal reasons that should be respected as well.It’s commendable to respect other ppl’s nationalistic sentiments.To his credit the guy always gave his best on the field & conducted himself professionally in all the English teams he plied his trade at.

    1. The black spot was that provocative billboard.That was uncalled for.Should have respected the red side of Manchester where he was coming from.

    1. Yes it is.but when understood a lot of unnecessary conflicts & tensions can easily be avoided.

  3. The bloke is a dick. Normally I would write something sensible but couldn’t about him.

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