What's the fuss about?: Tevez shows why United want him

The Argentina striker has steered his country to the final of the Copa America — South America's football championship — setting up a showdown with Brazil here on Sunday.

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Tevez refuses to speak publicly of the messy transfer saga that sees Sheffield United in the High Court today in their latest bid to take West Ham and the Premier League to task.

Instead, Tevez does his talking on the pitch, playing a central role in Argentina's 3-0 semi-final victory over Mexico on Wednesday.

His impact in the tournament mirrors his heroics at Upton Park last season. Just as he struggled to break into the West Ham side at the start of last season, he failed to fit into the plans of national team coach Alfio Basile when Argentina began their push for their first trophy for 14 years.

He was limited to substitute appearances in the group matches as Basile employed an unbalanced attacking triumvirate of a target man up front — initially Hernan Crespo — with Lionel Messi joining from the right and Juan Roman Riquelme pulling the strings in an advanced midfield role.

The snub did not deter Tevez, who was worshipped by the fans every time he appeared on the sidelines to warm up for the odd appearance, including a cameo against the United States w h e r e h e s c o r e d f i v e minutes from time.

Tevez kept smiling but was forced to wait. His chance came at half time in the quarter-final, with Argentina goalless and struggling against Peru. Tevez changed the game.

Within 90 seconds of his entrance, Argentina were 1-0 up thanks to a thumping shot from the edge of the area by Riquelme. Tevez almost made it two five minutes later but saw his diving header crash back off the crossbar.

The 23-year-old combined with Messi to produce Argentina's third. Their move ended up with a rasping Messi shot which rebounded off the goalkeeper to Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano, who scored for the second game in a row. Tevez also created the final goal, losing his defender down the right wing before playing in Riquelme to complete a 4-0 rout. The display forced his selection against Mexico and he did not disappoint.

Although the scintillating semi-final will be remembered for a wonderful Messi goal, Tevez again conducted the show. Little Carlitos, as he is affectionately known, had the vision to pick out Messi just inside the box to his right and the Barcelona star perfected a lob over keeper Oswaldo Sanchez that will surely win goal of the tournament.

Five minutes later Tevez put fear into the Mexico defence, easing past Jonny Magallon before crashing into Rafael Marquez to win a penalty that Riquelme put away to wrap up the win after Gabriel Heinze's opener. The win evoked m e m o r i e s o f D i e g o Maradona's finest moments at the Mexico World Cup in 1986, with Messi stealing the limelight. Buenos Aires sports paper Ole used the frontpage headline 'Messico 86', while Venezuela's Meridiano read 'Messianico!'.

Messi is the latest player to be labelled the 'next Maradona' and he even recreated the Argentina legend's two most famous goals last season. The double that knocked England out of Mexico 86 — a mazy individual run and the unforgettable 'Hand of God' goal — were eerily recreated by the 20-year-old for Barcelona as the master himself battled back from the brink of death in his homeland.

The 'next Maradona' was a tag once enjoyed by Tevez before he carved out his own r e p u t a t i o n . Fe w w i l l remember when he first arrived at Old Trafford with the albatross around his neck as an 18-year-old full of promise.

In August 2002 there were whispers that United boss Sir Alex Ferguson was looking at Tevez, who arrived with Boca Juniors for a pre-season 'friendly'.

The teenager was sent off for elbowing Paul Scholes as United won 2-0. While it is unclear whether Scholes w i l l w e l c o m e Te v e z with open arms to Old Trafford, Argentina and United defender Heinze is certainly pushing for the transfer.

'United give you a lot of prestige, both personal and professional and he's going there at the right time,' Heinze told icons.com.

'It makes me feel very happy that Tevez might come to United. If everything goes OK he will be joining an amazing club. He will arrive at a team that always draws up the highest o b j e c t i v e s a n d where your only concern is to play football because all the rest is taken care of.'

Tevez will surely be in the starting line-up to face Brazil in Sunday's final when his team have the chance to make up for losing the last Copa America on penalties three years ago to their great rivals.

Argentina were leading 2-1 until Adriano fired an equaliser three minutes into injury time to send the game to a shoot-out because there is no extra time.

Tevez cannot erase the memory of that night in Lima but he is determined that it will be a different outcome this time.

'I haven't forgotten that Brazil rubbed it in my face,' he said. 'Football has given me an opportunity for revenge but it's going to be a hard game.'