Title tilt taking toll on tired Tevez

The Manchester United striker has forged an impressive partnership with Wayne Rooney since signing on a two-year loan deal in July but says he is struggling to get through games after spending his last two summers on international duty with Argentina at the World Cup and Copa America.

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"I am playing 70 or 80 per cent of what I can give," Tevez told an Argentine radio station. "I finish games very tired. In the last 25 minutes I die, I fall.

"I always play to the fullest, but it is very difficult to maintain that pace. After the Copa America I had no rest."

The former West Ham forward is so tired he has not ruled out asking Argentina coach Alfio Basile to leave him out of the crucial World Cup 2010 qualifiers in June against Brazil and Ecuador.

Tevez, who is perhaps more revered than any other player in Argentina because of his commitment and triumph over adversity, said: "I want to see how I am at the end of May.

"It's difficult topic, because my body is asking me to rest a bit.

"I've not had a holiday for two years. I want to have a quiet day with my family, without thinking about anything."

Tevez, who has scored 13 times in 27 appearances for United this season, has not had a proper break since the Brazilian off-season in January 2006 when he was at Corinthians.

He was part of the Argentina team who were knocked out at the quarter-final stage by hosts Germany in the 2006 World Cup. And after helping West Ham stay in the Premier League last season he won a Copa America runners-up medal in Venezuela last summer.

The 23-year-old hopes to eventually return to South America with his first professional club Boca Juniors, but would also like to play again for Corinthians.

"It's a very big desire I have (to return to Corinthians), because people always treated me very well.

"I know where I am going to finish my career: in Boca. I do not imagine retiring without winning another championship (there).

"I want to play four or five more years in Europe, I would love to stay at Manchester United."

Tevez described Rooney as a "phenomenon" but has been most surprised by midfielder Paul Scholes's impact at Old Trafford.

"It's an incredible thing, I see it every day and he has a quality and a tremendous personality. He is the engine of the team," said Tevez.