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Cuauhtémoc Blanco

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Cuauhtémoc Blanco
Blanco with Veracruz in 2010.
Personal information
Full name Cuauhtémoc Blanco Bravo
Height 5 ft 9.5 in (1.77 m)[1]
Position(s) Attacking Midfielder
Forward
Team information
Current team
 Dorados de Sinaloa
Number 20
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–2007 América 333 (125)
1997–1998 → Necaxa (loan) 28 (13)
2000–2002 → Real Valladolid (loan) 23 (3)
2004 → Veracruz (loan) 15 (5)
2007–2009 Chicago Fire 62 (16)
2008 → Santos Laguna (loan) 4 (1)
2010 Veracruz 14 (5)
2010–2011 Irapuato 47 (9)
2012– Dorados de Sinaloa 13 (5)
International career
1995–2010 Mexico 119 (39)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16 April 2012

Cuauhtémoc Blanco Bravo (Spanish pronunciation: [kwauˈtemok ˈblaŋko]; born 17 January 1973) is a Mexican professional footballer who currently plays for Dorados de Sinaloa[2] in the Mexican Liga de Ascenso.

Known for his aggressive yet charismatic personality on the field, playing most of his career as a deep-lying forward and his last years as an attacking midfielder. He is widely considered one of the greatest and most talented Mexican players in the last two decades.

Blanco is the only Mexican football player with an award in a major international FIFA competition, as he won the Silver Ball and the Silver Shoe awards in the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup. He has been awarded the MVP of the Mexican First League Division five times.

He is tied with Ronaldinho as the leading Confederations Cup goalscorer. Blanco is the second leading goal scorer for the Mexican national football team and his debut team Club América; he is also Mexico's second top scorer in both the FIFA World Cup and the Copa Libertadores tournament.

Club career

Blanco was born in Tlatilco, but grew up in Tepito, a poor neighborhood of Mexico City, where he learned to love playing football in the local fields. Growing up in a rough environment with a high crime rate, Blanco developed a style of play based on creativity and aggressiveness leading him to sometimes lose his temper. Ángel González a scout for Club América discovered him as he won the Torneo Benito Juárez as a part of the Distrito Federal selection team, and brought him to Club América's development program.

Club América

Blanco during his time with Club América.

Having played most of his career in Club América, with 333 appearances and 125 goals, Cuauhtémoc has become an idol to the club's supporters and an important figure in the history of the team.

Blanco made his debut in the Primera División (Mexican First Division) in 1992 at the age of 19 with Club América. He won his first Golden Boot with 16 goals in the Winter 1998 season for Las Aguilas.

In May 2005, Blanco won his first club championship as a player, leading Club América to its tenth league title, when Club América defeated U.A.G. by an aggregate score of 7–4 (1–1, 6–3). In the next three consecutive years between 2005 to 2007, he was awarded the MVP.

He scored his last goal is this club during the championship final against Pachuca in 2007. After that game he moved to Chicago and played the next two seasons for Chicago Fire.

Necaxa

He was loaned for Winter 1997 and Summer 1998 at Club Necaxa, in which he scored 13 goals in 28 appearances.

Real Valladolid

In the year 2000, after winning the Golden Shoe in the Confederations Cup 1999, Blanco was loaned to Real Valladolid for the 2000–01 campaign. On October of that year in an international WCQ match against Trinidad and Tobago, he received a strong kick from an opposing defender, breaking his leg and leaving him out of the fields for the next 8 months.

After the peak of his career was stopped by an injury, he continued in the club for another season (2001–02), in which he struggled with homesickness and regaining his form; after scoring great goals in Spain, including a free-kick against Real Madrid's Iker Casillas at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium,[3] he returned to Mexico.

Veracruz

In the Apertura 2004 he had a successful season with the Tiburones Rojos in which they ended up leaders, Blanco being an important factor. During this season he gained an important following at the port, which led him to come back later on.

Chicago Fire

Blanco in Chicago in 2009 during his time with the Chicago Fire.

On 2 April 2007, Blanco ventured on to Major League Soccer in the United States and signed with Chicago Fire. He was welcomed by 5,000 fans at Toyota Park as he conducted interviews with the media, signed autographs and greeted with fans.

He was later voted as a finalist for both the M.V.P. and Newcomer of the Year awards in 2007.[4] Blanco was the 2007 Sierra Mist Goal of the Year Winner which was his first season, goal came in week 20 against RSL.[5]

Blanco was the second-highest paid player in Major League Soccer, after Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder David Beckham, earning $2.7 million a year.[6] Once again finalist for the M.V.P of the year award.

On 24 July 2008 during the MLS All-Stars vs West Ham United, Blanco won the MVP of the game with one assist and one goal, a game in which he only played 46 minutes. The MLS All-stars won 3–2.

Santos Laguna

On November 19, 2008, it was announced that Santos Laguna signed Blanco on a loan to play only for the Apertura 2008 Liguilla, after the injury of their Ecuadorian striker Christian Benítez. Blanco was formally presented to the press the next day, wearing jersey number 9, and stated that he looks forward to giving Santos a back-to-back championship.[7][8][9] Blanco scored his first goal with Santos Laguna 29 November 2008. It was penalty against San Luis goalkeeper Adrian Martinez in the return game which Santos Laguna won 2–1 and 5–2 aggregate score.

Return to Mexico

In October 2009 Blanco announced he would not be renewing his contract with Chicago Fire and would instead sign with Veracruz of Liga de Ascenso starting January 2010.[10] However, after 6 months with Veracruz he left for Irapuato FC.[11] Led by Cuauhtemoc Irapuato won Clausura 2011, but the team failed to advance to the Primera División losing to Club Tijuana in the promotional final.

In December 2011, after he could not secure a contract with any Primera División team and a month shy of his 39th birthday, Blanco joined Dorados de Sinaloa of Liga de Ascenso.[2] According to Blanco, this will be the last team he represents.[2] He would like to finish his professional player career playing for Dorados de Sinaloa and later pursue his career as a coach.[2]

International career

Blanco has played for Mexico at three World Cups. He was part of the squad at France '98, Korea-Japan 2002 and South Africa 2010. He was also a member of the Mexico team that won the Confederations Cup in 1999 where he was the tournament's leading scorer with six goals, including one in the final. He was awarded the "Golden Boot" and "Silver Boot" for outstanding player of the tournament. Blanco holds the record along with Brazil's Ronaldinho as the highest scoring players in the Confederations Cup with nine goals, three in 1997 and six in 1999.

In the selection for the final 23-man squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, former Mexican national team coach Ricardo La Volpe left Blanco out of the team. While the ostensible reason given was that Blanco was frequently injured and not in good form; some people considered this to be a consequence of the previous year's constant bickering, due to on-going personal problems between coach and player.

Blanco became part of the squad that played the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup, scoring one penalty goal, and the 2007 Copa América, where he scored 2 goals also in penalty kicks. He has since been praised for his influential performance and is now tipped to be a certain starter for the majority of Mexico's qualifying games, mostly due to his experience and current form with Chicago Fire in MLS. On 13 September 2008, he earned his 100th cap for his country in its 2–1 World Cup qualifier victory over Canada at Tuxtla Gutierrez, coming on with only 15 seconds left in regulation.

Blanco returned to the national team since Javier Aguirre's arrival to the team in April 2009, playing in all the games throughout the Hexagonal of the World Cup Qualifying since then; Blanco becoming an important factor for Mexico's team regain of form and confidence.

On 10 October 2009, Blanco provoked the first opposition own goal and scored the second goal in a 4–1 victory over El Salvador to help Mexico clinch a spot in the 2010 World Cup. On 17 June 2010, he scored a penalty in the 78th minute of the 2–0 win against France at the World Cup in South Africa.[12] With this goal he became the first Mexican to score a goal in three World Cup tournaments and the third-oldest goalscorer in World Cup history.[13][14] Blanco is considered by many to be one of the greatest penalty kickers of all time. He also has a penalty-taking record; out of a total of 58 taken, he has only ever missed three.

International goals

Celebration

Blanco himself has accepted on Mexican television and to the press that his goal celebration is an imitation of the "Archer"[15] celebration created by former Atletico de Madrid striker Kiko Narvaez. In a 2005 interview with Mexican newspaper El Universal (Mexico City), Blanco explains that while watching a Spanish league game accompanied by his teammate Germán Villa, both players agreed to celebrate their next goal by imitating the "Archer" gesture. In the end, only Blanco did it, and jokingly reprimanded Villa for not keeping his word.[16][16] However, the Chicago Fire official website claims that Blanco celebrates scoring a goal by acting like the Prehispanic Tlatoani Aztec emperor Cuauhtémoc, "in order to show respect for the Mexican people, and their indigenous Amerindian heritage".[17]

Cuauhtemiña

Blanco remains remembered for the Cuauhtemiña (also spelled Cuauhteminha), or Blanco Trick, which he performed notably at the 1998 World Cup.[18] In the trick, when two or more opposition players are trying to take the ball from him, he traps the ball between his feet and jumps through the defenders- releasing the ball in the air and landing with it under control as he leaves the opposition players behind.[19] The trick is easy to perform but is eye-catching and has been incorporated as a special skill into the FIFA series of football video games.

Career statistics

As of October 22, 2009[20]

Template:Football player statistics 1 Template:Football player statistics 2 |- |1992–93||rowspan="5"|América||rowspan="8"|Primera División||12||0||colspan="2"|–||||||||| |- |1993–94||4||0||colspan="2"|–||||||||| |- |1994–95||33||6||colspan="2"|–||||||||| |- |1995–96||32||5||colspan="2"|–||||||||| |- |1996–97||27||9||colspan="2"|–||||||||| |- |1997–98||Necaxa||28||13||colspan="2"|–||||||||| |- |1998–99||rowspan="2"|América||31||31||colspan="2"|–||||||||| |- |1999-00||36||20||colspan="2"|–||||||||| Template:Football player statistics 2 |- |2000–01||rowspan="2"|Real Valladolid||rowspan="2"|La Liga||3||0||||||colspan="2"|–||||| |- |2001–02||20||3||||||colspan="2"|–||||| Template:Football player statistics 2 |- |2002–03||rowspan="5"|América||rowspan="5"|Primera División||36||11||colspan="2"|–||||||||| |- |2003–04||38||20||colspan="2"|–||||||||| |- |2004–05||35||13||colspan="2"|–||||||||| |- |2005–06||28||7||colspan="2"|–||||||||| |- |2006–07||36||13||colspan="2"|–||||||||| Template:Football player statistics 2 |- |2007||rowspan="3"|Chicago Fire||rowspan="3"|Major League Soccer||14||4||||||colspan="2"|–||||| |- |2008||27||7||||||colspan="2"|–||||| |- |2009||21||5||||||4||2|||| |- Template:Football player statistics 3376||143||colspan="2"|–|||||||376||143 Template:Football player statistics 423||3||||||colspan="2"|–||23||3 Template:Football player statistics 462||16||||||4||2||66||18 Template:Football player statistics 5437||158||||||||||437||158 Template:Football player statistics end

International

[21]

National team Year Apps Goals
Mexico 1995 1 0
1996 11 4
1997 15 4
1998 15 3
1999 18 8
2000 4 5
2001 4 5
2002 7 1
2003 2 0
2004 2 0
2005 4 0
2006 1 0
2007 11 4
2008 3 0
2009 7 3
2010 14 2
Total 119 39

Honors

Filmography

Writer

Actor[22]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Cuauhtemoc Blanco". ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
  2. ^ a b c d "Cuauhtémoc Blanco es nuevo jugador de los Dorados de Sinaloa" (in Spanish). 22 December 2011.
  3. ^ "" (2007-04-08). "Gol Cuauhtemoc Blanco contra Real Madrid Valladolid". YouTube. Retrieved 2010-06-18. {{cite web}}: |author= has numeric name (help)
  4. ^ "MLSnet.com: Press release". 2007 MLS award finalists & announcement schedule. Archived from the original on 29 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-29.
  5. ^ Media Player[dead link‍]
  6. ^ "Mr. White Gets to 100 Caps (Maybe), Walks Away". New York Times. Retrieved 21 September 2008.
  7. ^ Blanco va a Santos pero sólo para la Liguilla
  8. ^ Blanco quiere el bicampeonato para el Santos
  9. ^ "Blanco loaned to Santos Laguna". Chicago.fire.mlsnet.com. 6 June 2010. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
  10. ^ "Cuauhtemoc Blanco to leave Chicago Fire for Mexico". usatoday.com. 29 October 2010. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
  11. ^ "Cuauhtémoc Blanco confirma su pase al club Irapuato". CNN Mexico (in Spanish). 16 July 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  12. ^ Dawkes, Phil (2010-06-17). "France 0–2 Mexico". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2010-06-17.
  13. ^ "Mexico tops France to close in on knockout round". The Sports Network. 2010-06-17. Retrieved 2010-06-17.
  14. ^ Ramírez, Armando (2010-06-19). "Temo Seguiría Como Tiburón" (in Spanish). Diario Record. ISSN 1665–2134. {{cite news}}: Check |issn= value (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ http://www.colchonero.com/media/galeria/4/2/8/0/9/n_atletico_de_madrid_kiko_narvaez-9082.jpg
  16. ^ a b "Así nació el festejo del `Flechador`". El Universal. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
  17. ^ "Chicago Fire Player Bio". Chicago Fire S.C. Retrieved 9 May 2009. Blanco is equally creative with his goal celebrations. To honor Mexican tradition and history, Blanco strikes the iconic pose of prehispanic ruler Tlatoani Cuauhtémoc...
  18. ^ Cuauhtemiña, Intergoals.co.uk. Retrieved 6 January 2008
  19. ^ Cuauhtemiña, Youtube.com.
  20. ^ "クアウテモク･ブランコ". World-soccer.org. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
  21. ^ "International Appearances", RSSSF. Retrieved 31 May 2012
  22. ^ IMDb – Cuauhtémoc Blanco
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