Revolutionary Wenger 'like Che Guevara', says Boa Morte

What you need to know:

  • Boa Morte, now 40, won the Premier League and FA Cup double in 1998 with Arsenal.
  • He retired in 2013 but will play in Hong Kong next month for an all-star veterans team at the city's Soccer Sevens tournament.

HONG KONG

Arsene Wenger was compared Thursday to Che Guevara for his revolutionary impact at Arsenal by former player Luis Boa Morte.

The Frenchman last week announced he would leave the club at the end of the season after 22 years in charge, during which time he won three Premier League titles and seven FA Cups, and in 2004 guided his "Invincibles" to the only unbeaten season in England's modern top-flight history.

Preston North End were also unbeaten in the 1888-89 season, but in those days there were just 12 teams in the English Football League.

"I'm surprised, and I'm sad about it," said the former Portuguese international Boa Morte, who was brought to England as a 19-year-old by Wenger in 1997.
"He's a revolutionary. He's like Che Guevara because he created a revolution at Arsenal.

"He created unbelievable things and I don't know who else will come along and do what he did, winning the league without a defeat. The impossible became possible. Let's see who will come next."

Boa Morte, now 40, won the Premier League and FA Cup double in 1998 with Arsenal. He retired in 2013 but will play in Hong Kong next month for an all-star veterans team at the city's Soccer Sevens tournament.