And they say strikers are selfish…

I must admit I kind of have a thing for Robinho. Years before it ever occurred to me he might actually play for City, I’d always acquire him for City in Football Manager or Pro Evo Soccer. (Though to be honest it never occurred to me he could play for City in real life until it actually happened.) His virtual avatar has scored loads of sweet goals for me, and despite his midseason dry spell he had a fair few for City last campaign as well. And he had one more for Brazil last night, the equalizing goal against Paraguay on a volley from a tight angle.

But Robinho’s finest moment came later in the evening after Nilmar dinked the ball over Paraguay’s keeper. Robinho was on the scene and easily could have slammed the ball in the back of the net to claim a second, but instead let the ball cross the line on its own and made gestures indicating he hadn’t touched it. Consequently, Nilmar gets credit for the goal–his first for his country in a competitive match. (See the goal starting at 2:30 of this video.) A great gesture by Robinho, though not necessarily something you would ever expect to see at club level.

Elsewhere in South America Wednesday night, potential signing Carlos Tevez did well to earn a penalty kick in Argentina’s match against Ecuador, but he badly botched the ensuing penalty, reason enough to point out that he’s still officially a United player. (Though likely not for long, according to the Guardian on Thursday.) One City forward who may find himself on the way out if Tevez arrives, Felipe Caicedo, played 79 minutes for the winning Ecuador side.

No City players were involved in England’s win over Andorra–Gareth Barry was suspended and Shaun Wright-Phillips left unused after a not particularly impressive cameo against Kazakhstan last weekend.

Category: Team News