What Antony did after Man Utd beat Sheriff win speaks volumes

Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag reviews Sheriff win

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Forget the showboating. Antony has been criticised for putting on a show for Manchester United against Sheriff on Thursday night, with his tricks and skills failing to really pay off. But footage of the Brazil international handing his shirt to a fan at the end of the game speaks volumes, suggesting he’s not the arrogant performer some would have you believe…

Manchester United won 3-0 against Sheriff, with Diogo Dalot, Marcus Rashford and Cristiano Ronaldo all finding the net in a straightforward win at Old Trafford.

But, bizarrely, Antony instead became a talking point following the fixture.

The United star showboated in the first half, drawing a shake of the head from his manager in the process. Understandable, given he proceeded to put the ball straight out of play.

Yet that should have been the end of the matter. Instead, BT Sport decided to spend time of both their half-time and full-time coverage talking about the incident.

Antony is a young lad growing accustomed to a new country. Skills have always been part of his repertoire, which is part of the reason United spend a huge £86million on him back in the summer.

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So forget about the tricks and flicks. Focus on the human being instead.

Antony is grateful for everything he’s got. Having grown up in a favela in Brazil, playing football on the streets, he knows he’s now made it to the big time.

And that he chose to give his shirt to a fan, despite being hooked at half-time against Sheriff, shows what a humble individual he is.

Antony knows his roots. Speaking at the time of his move to United, he shed light on a difficult period in his life by saying: “I was just a humble little boy from a favela.

“I didn’t have boots to play football. “I didn’t have a bedroom, I slept on the sofa.

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“I lived in the very middle of the favela. Twenty yards from my house there were drug dealers. Sometimes you would be watching a game on a Sunday and there would be that smell, a smell of cannabis coming into the house.

“There were moments, my brother, my sister and I would cry and hug each other thinking about our lives.

“There were times in the middle of the night, we were bailing water out of our flooded house, but we’d still do it with a smile on our faces.”

Antony learnt to express himself as a youngster in the best way possible: by knuckling down and working hard to be a footballer.

“I played in my community, I lived in a favela, I lived there until I started playing professionally at Sao Paulo,” he told club media.

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“People wouldn’t believe that after seeing me on TV, I’d be going back home to the favela at full-time.

“I didn’t have the means to leave. My memories are playing barefoot as I didn’t have any boots, playing on the yard with my friends, from afternoon ‘til evening playing football there. They are happy memories, I’m not embarrassed to share them.

“Everything I went through was worth it to be having this experience here today. I’ve always been very persistent, when I want something I go after it until I get it. I always had plan A to be a professional footballer, there was no plan B.

“It was always plan A, I was going to carry out plan A to make it and fulfil mine and my family’s dream. I always had this in mind, I can’t imagine what I might have become, as I always believed I’d make it regardless of the difficulties I would face. I’m fulfilling my dream.”

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Should Antony have done better after his spin against Sheriff? Absolutely.

But there’s no need to hound the United star. He’s produced the goods on the pitch for the most part so far, and there’s nothing to suggest that won’t continue in the coming weeks and months ahead.

After all, a stylish way of playing football hasn’t exactly done Neymar much harm over the course of his career.

And Antony is hoping to follow in his footsteps in becoming a superstar. With three goals to his name, he’s not exactly let anyone down so far…

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