MANCHESTER UNITED winger Antony has hit back at club legend Paul Scholes after being labelled a “clown”.
The Brazilian star, 22, performed a 720-degree spin with no defenders near him during the Red Devils’ 3-0 win over Sheriff Tiraspol last month.
And Scholes was left thoroughly unimpressed by the former Ajax man’s trickery.
Speaking on BT Sport, he said: “I don’t know what that skill achieves. Even before that, he did nothing in the game. I think he needs a more entertaining skill. When you’re three of four-nil up, maybe.”
He then added: “I don’t know if that’s skill or entertainment. That’s being a clown.”
But Antony has now hit back at those comments by insisting he is simply replicating the idols he watched growing up.
In a piece for The Players’ Tribune, he said: “If you think I’m just a clown, then you don’t understand my story.
“The art of Ronaldinho and Cristiano [Ronaldo] and Neymar inspired me as a child.
“I watched these Gods in amazement on stolen Wifi, then I went out to the concrete pitch to try to imitate their genius.
“This is my story. If you still don’t understand me, or if you still think that I am a clown, then I will just point to the ink on my arm…
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“Whoever comes from the favela knows a little bit of what I’ve been through.
“Those words speak for me. And for us all.”
Following the spin against Sheriff, Antony played no part in the 1-0 win over West Ham three days later due to an injury.
And that problem has kept him out until the World Cup break – but he is still expected to be available in Qatar after being selected in Tite’s final 26-man squad.
Meanwhile, in the same piece for The Players’ Tribune, Antony opened up about his difficult childhood.
He specifically referenced stepping over a dead body in the street at the age of eight.
