Tevez and Higuain - the second coming

Climate of Italy in most of the plain is Mediterranean. Footballers from all corners of the world have played some of their best soccer in Serie A, but case of Argentina is something special. Their talent has traditionally performed best here. If we walk past memory lane then we can spot the trend. Maradona for Napoli, Hernan Crespo for Parma, Gabrial Batistuta for Fiorentina, Diego Simeone for Lazio are few of the many examples. Currently, Diego Milito is serving Inter Milan after returning from injury.

Two Argentine transfers are the talking point in Italy these days, Tevez for Turin giants Juventus and Higuain for Naples club Nepoli. They are playing for the first time in Serie A and their arrival deserves to be analyzed.

From Boca Juniors, Tevez reached English soil as a stricker for West Ham Utd. He was spotted by Sir Alex and inducted in Man Utd to fill the vacuum created after the departure of Beckham. Tevez delivered goods but quite soon, Fergie started putting money on old horses -Giggs and Scholes. Tevez didn’t get the amount of respect that he was worthy of. He spent more time on bench than on turf. His relationship with club and team management soured. He was a member of UEFA Champions League and EPL winning squads but was never given his due.

Quite dejectedly, he moved to cross-town rival Manchester City. The club was running on millions of pounds pumped by Sheikh Mansoor. He got a handsome undisclosed deal. The club was very ambitious and was looking almost settled to push Manchester United off the perch. The ghost returned. Italian coach Roberto Manchini always preferred Dzeko and David Silva ahead of him. Introduction of Ballotielli made the situation worse for him. He was finding tough time as a first choice among the talented strickers. Situation took ugly turn when for indiscipline he was suspended for 2 weeks by the club when he refused to come as a substitute in a UEFA Champions League match. His pictures of spat with coach became public. In an Interview on Argentine TV, he claimed that Mancini has treated him like a dog. He later apologized for it but dust refused to settle.

In the national team, he was never the first choice of Maradonna. He always felt uncomfortable as talent of others was always preferred. In World Cup at South Africa, he played in one match only and that too as a sub. Messi and Higuain were always preferred. Kun Aguero and even Martin Palermo were given chances ahead of him. It added further humiliation in him. Even in World cup qualifiers, Higuain and Messi continued to steal all the show.

At Juventus, he is playing freely. Matri has moved to A C Milan. Vucinic, Giovinco and Llorente are playing alongside him in forward line. In the mid field, he has got probably the best play maker of the world, Andreas Pirlo. As part of his nature, he is constantly supplying him quality balls to score. He is quite senior to French 21 international Paul Pogba. Juventus has been a force in Serie A, way ahead of all the other Italian Clubs in terms of winning Scudetto. This season, he is scoring well and featuring in starting line up regularly. He seems to be enjoying new no. on his shirt after wearing permanent 32 for English clubs.

Case of Higuain is not as bitter. He moved to Real from River Plate at a signing of 12 million Euros. He enjoyed a lot at Bernabau. The touching point is that he was second fiddle to probably the best stricker of this era, Christiano Ronaldo. He scored 107 goals for Real in 190 appearances but they were too short of the talisman. Ronaldo was the man who was constantly chasing Messi for three seasons for top. With the advent of Bale, his charisma was to fade. Higuain, didn’t get the credit he truly deserved in dressing room, management and even among fans at Madrid.

In Napoli, he is getting ample media attention. He is featuring in all the matches and getting good crowd support. Hamsik, Callejeon, Insigne and others are in good camaraderie. More importantly, Rafael Banitez trusts him more than anyone else. He is the richest player of the club.

It looks certain that both the talented Argentine strickers are enjoying their second coming. Regularly, they are featuring in matches and score sheets. They need not worry at all. Argentines have always received plenty of Italian ‘Amor’.