Gone by 2011, having pretty much clocked the game of football

Carlos Tevez has always struck The Spoiler as a simple man with simple needs. Give him a football, bessie mates “Pat & Ji”, and his choice of knitted headscarf (black or white), and he’s happy. Professional football and all of its trappings, we imagine, he could take or leave. So it comes as no major surprise that, at the age of 25, the Argentinean forward has admitted considering retirement.

Speaking before Argentina’s 2-1 defeat in Spain on Saturday, Tev revealed losing his place in the national side to Gonzalo Higuain and the pressures of juggling both international and domestic football caused him to reevaluate his career:

It’s complicated, there’s my family, the desire to return to Boca Juniors, but I think about it. It crosses my mind to hang up my boots if we win the World Cup, although I have a contract [with Man City] until 2014.