Tevez pays price for Brazil snub

Carlos Tevez may have been omitted from Argentina’s latest squad as punishment for pulling out of a match against arch-rivals Brazil.

Manchester City captain Tevez has been left out of the squad to play Portugal in a friendly on Wednesday.

And Argentina Football Association President Julio Grondona has strongly hinted that the exclusion is a direct result of the striker’s failure to make himself available for the match against Brazil in November 2010.

Tevez pulled out of the high-anticipated fixture citing a muscle problem, but was fit enough to play for City a few days later.

“I think that Tevez’s absence is because of his attitude when he didn’t come to play (against Brazil) and shortly after he took the field for his club,” Grondona told Radio Pop.

“That attitude didn’t go down well with the coaching staff; it was a lot easier to tell us that he didn’t want to come.”

The match against Brazil was Sergio Batista’s first after being promoted from caretaker to full-time coach.

It has been speculated that Tevez’s decision not to play was a sign of his loyalty to departed coach Diego Maradona, but Grondona rejected the notion out of hand.

“Tevez’s absence has nothing to do with Maradona. We cannot go down that road,” he said.

”I want to leave that crystal clear.”