- Cuauhtémoc Blanco
-
This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Blanco and the second or maternal family name is Bravo.
Cuauhtémoc Blanco
Blanco with Veracruz in 2010.Personal information Full name Cuauhtémoc Blanco Bravo Date of birth January 17, 1973 Place of birth Mexico City, Mexico Height 5 ft 9.5 in (1.77 m)[1] Playing position Attacking Midfielder
ForwardClub information Current club Irapuato Number 10 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– Irapuato 38 (8) National team 1995– Mexico 121 (39) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).Cuauhtémoc Blanco Bravo (Spanish pronunciation: [kwauˈtemok ˈblaŋko]; born January 17, 1973) is a Mexican professional footballer currently signed for Irapuato in the Mexican Liga de Ascenso.[2]
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. Blanco is currently doing a Mexican Telenovela, Triunfo del Amor
Contents
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 Juarez as a part of the Distrito Federal selection team, and brought him to Club America's basic forces.
Club America
Having played most of his career in Club America, 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 agaist 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
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]
As of the 2008 season, 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
On October 29, 2009 Blanco announced that he would not be renewing his three-year contract with Chicago Fire in December 2009, and would instead sign for Veracruz, beginning in January 2010.[10]
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 Lavolpe 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 America, 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.[11] 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.[12][13] 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
Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1. January 19, 1996 Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego, United States Guatemala 1–0 1–0 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup 2. January 21, 1996 L.A. Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States Brazil 2–0 2–0 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup 3. February 7, 1996 Estadio Sausalito, Viña del Mar, Chile Chile 1–0 1–2 Friendly 4. June 16, 1996 Rose Bowl, Pasadena, United States United States 2–1 2–2 1996 U.S. Cup 5. June 22, 1997 Estadio Félix Capriles, Cochabamba, Bolivia Ecuador 1–1 1–1 1997 Copa América 6. December 14, 1997 King Fahd International Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 3–0 5–0 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup 7. December 14, 1997 King Fahd International Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 5–0 5–0 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup 8. December 16, 1997 King Fahd International Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Brazil 1–1 2–3 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup 9. February 7, 1998 Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, United States Honduras 1–0 2–0 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup 10. February 7, 1998 Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, United States Honduras 2–0 2–0 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup 11. June 20, 1998 Parc Lescure, Bordeaux, France Belgium 2–2 2–2 1998 FIFA World Cup 12. July 6, 1999 Antonio Oddone Sarubbi, Ciudad del Este, Paraguay Venezuela 1–0 3–1 1999 Copa América 13. July 6, 1999 Antonio Oddone Sarubbi, Ciudad del Este, Paraguay Venezuela 3–0 3–1 1999 Copa América 14. July 25, 1999 Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico Saudi Arabia 1–0 5–1 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup 15. July 25, 1999 Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico Saudi Arabia 2–0 5–1 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup 16. July 25, 1999 Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico Saudi Arabia 4–1 5–1 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup 17. July 25, 1999 Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico Saudi Arabia 5–1 5–1 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup 18. August 1, 1999 Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico United States 1–0 1–0 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup 19. August 4, 1999 Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico Brazil 4–2 4–3 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup 20. January 9, 2000 Networks Associates Coliseum, Oakland, United States Iran 2–0 2–1 Friendly 21. September 3, 2000 Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico Panama 4–0 7–1 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier 22. September 3, 2000 Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico Panama 7–1 7–1 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier 23. October 8, 2000 Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico Trinidad and Tobago 1–0 7–1 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier 24. October 8, 2000 Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico Trinidad and Tobago 3–0 7–0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier 25. September 2, 2001 Independence Park, Kingston, Jamaica Jamaica 1–1 2–1 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier 26. September 2, 2001 Independence Park, Kingston, Jamaica Jamaica 2–1 2–1 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier 27. September 5, 2001 Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico Trinidad and Tobago 3–0 3–0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier 28. November 11, 2001 Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico Honduras 1–0 3–0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier 29. November 11, 2001 Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico Honduras 3–0 3–0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier 30. June 3, 2002 Niigata Stadium, Niigata, Japan Croatia 1–0 1–0 2002 FIFA World Cup 31. February 28, 2007 Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, United States Venezuela 3–0 3–0 Friendly 32. June 10, 2007 Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, United States Honduras 1–0 1–2 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup 33. July 8, 2007 Estadio Monumental de Maturín, Maturín, Venezuela Paraguay 5–0 6–0 2007 Copa América 34. July 14, 2007 Estadio Olímpico, Caracas, Venezuela Uruguay 1–1 3–1 2007 Copa América 35. June 6, 2009 Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador, El Salvador El Salvador 1–1 1–2 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier 36. September 9, 2009 Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico Honduras 1–0 1–0 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier 37. October 10, 2009 Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico El Salvador 2–0 4–1 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier 38. March 17, 2010 Estadio Corona, Torreón, Mexico North Korea 1–0 2–1 Friendly 39. June 17, 2010 Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane, South Africa France 2–0 2–0 2010 FIFA World Cup Celebration
Blanco himself has accepted on Mexican television and to the press that his goal celebration is an imitation of the "Archer"[14] 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.[15][15] 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".[16]
Cuauhtemiña
Blanco remains remembered for the Cuauhtemiña (also spelled Cuauhteminha), or Blanco Trick, which he performed notably at the 1998 World Cup.[17] 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.[18] 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 [19]
Club performance League Cup Continental Total Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Mexico League Cup North America Total 1992–93 América Primera División 12 0 - 1993–94 4 0 - 1994–95 33 6 - 1995–96 32 5 - 1996–97 27 9 - 1997–98 Necaxa 28 13 - 1998–99 América 31 31 - 1999-00 36 20 - Spain League Copa del Rey Europe Total 2000–01 Real Valladolid La Liga 3 0 2001–02 20 3 Mexico League Cup North America Total 2002–03 América Primera División 36 11 - 2003–04 38 20 - 2004–05 35 13 - 2005–06 28 7 - 2006–07 36 13 - USA League Open Cup North America Total 2007 Chicago Fire Major League Soccer 14 4 2008 27 7 2009 21 5 Total Mexico 376 143 - Spain 23 3 USA 62 16 Career total 437 158 International
- As of 27 June 2010
National team Year Apps Goals Mexico 1995 1 0 1996 11 4 1997 15 1 1998 15 3 1999 19 8 2000 5 5 2001 4 9 2002 7 1 2003 2 0 2004 2 0 2005 4 0 2006 1 0 2007 13 4 2008 3 0 2009 7 3 2010 15 2 Total 121 39 Honors
Mexico
- FIFA Confederations Cup (1): 1999
- CONCACAF Gold Cup (2): 1996, 1998
América
- CONCACAF Champions' Cup (1): 2006
- Primera División de México (1): Clausura 2005
- Campeón de Campeones (1): 2005
Irapuato
- Liga de Ascenso: Clausura 2011
Individual
- FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Boot
- 1999
- FIFA Confederations Cup Silver Ball
- 1999
- Mexican Player of the Year
- 2001–2002
- Primera División de México MVP
- 1997–1998, 2004–2005, 2005–2006, 2006–2007
- Primera División de México Top Scorer
- Invierno 1998
- MLS Best XI
- 2008
- MLS All-Star Game MVP
- 2008
- MLS Goal of the Year
- 2007
- Tecate Athlete of the Year
- 2008
- Mexico Premio Nacional del Deporte
- 2009
See also
References
- ^ "Cuauhtemoc Blanco". ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/player/_/id/19125/cuauhtemoc-blanco?cc=3888. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
- ^ Cuauhtémoc Blanco jugará en el Irapuato de México
- ^ "" (2007-04-08). "Gol Cuauhtemoc Blanco contra Real Madrid Valladolid". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_FYQIANw5A. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
- ^ "MLSnet.com: Press release". 2007 MLS award finalists & announcement schedule. Archived from the original on December 29, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071229110025/http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20071029&content_id=126642&vkey=pr_mls&fext=.jsp. Retrieved 2007-10-29.
- ^ Media Player[dead link]
- ^ "Mr. White Gets to 100 Caps (Maybe), Walks Away". New York Times. http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/cuauht%C3%A9moc-blanco/. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
- ^ Blanco va a Santos pero sólo para la Liguilla
- ^ Blanco quiere el bicampeonato para el Santos
- ^ "Blanco loaned to Santos Laguna". Chicago.fire.mlsnet.com. 2010-06-06. http://chicago.fire.mlsnet.com/news/team_news.jsp?ymd=20081120&content_id=205622&vkey=news_chf&fext=.jsp&team=t100. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
- ^ "Cuauhtemoc Blanco to leave Chicago Fire for Mexico". Usatoday.com. 2009-10-29. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/2009-10-29-2733898366_x.htm. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
- ^ Dawkes, Phil (2010-06-17). "France 0–2 Mexico". BBC Sport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2010/matches/match_20/default.stm. Retrieved 2010-06-17.
- ^ "Mexico tops France to close in on knockout round". The Sports Network. 2010-06-17. http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=soc-wc/news/news.aspx?id=4319167. Retrieved 2010-06-17.
- ^ Ramírez, Armando (2010-06-19). "Temo Seguiría Como Tiburón" (in Spanish). Diario Record. ISSN 1665–2134.
- ^ http://www.colchonero.com/media/galeria/4/2/8/0/9/n_atletico_de_madrid_kiko_narvaez-9082.jpg
- ^ a b "Así nació el festejo del `Flechador`". El Universal. http://www2.eluniversal.com.mx/pls/impreso/noticia.html?id_nota=72484&tabla=deportes. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
- ^ "Chicago Fire Player Bio". Chicago Fire S.C.. http://chicago.fire.mlsnet.com/players/bio.jsp?player=blanco_c&playerId=bla435579&statType=current&team=t100. Retrieved 2009-05-09. "Blanco is equally creative with his goal celebrations. To honor Mexican tradition and history, Blanco strikes the iconic pose of prehispanic ruler Tlatoani Cuauhtémoc..."
- ^ Cuauteminha Intergoals.co.uk Accessed 06–01–08
- ^ Cuauhteminha Youtube.com
- ^ "クアウテモク・ブランコ". World-soccer.org. http://www.world-soccer.org/p-25135.htm. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
External links
- Cuauhtémoc Blanco Article (Spanish)
- Football Database.com provides Cuauhtémoc Blanco's profile and stats
- Cuauhtémoc Blanco stats at Medio Tiempo.com (Spanish)
- Cuauhtémoc Blanco at National-Football-Teams.com
- Cuauhtémoc Blanco at the Internet Movie Database
Awards Primera División de México top scorers 1944: Lángara | 1945: Aballay | 1946: Lángara | 1947: López | 1948: López | 1949: López | 1950: Ayllón | 1951: Casarín | 1952: López | 1953: Quiñones | 1954: Guerra/López/Palacio | 1955: Palacio | 1956: H. Hernández | 1957: Gutiérrez | 1958: Lara | 1959: González | 1960: Rolando | 1961: Lara/Reyes | 1963: Epaminondas | 1964: Etcheverry | 1965: Epaminondas | 1966: Zague | 1967: Epaminondas | 1968: B. Hernández | 1969: Estrada | 1970: Pereda | México '70: Anaya | 1971: Borja | 1972: Borja | 1973: Borja | 1974: Castro | 1975: Salgado | 1976: Cabinho | 1977: Cabinho | 1978: Cabinho | 1979: Cabinho/Sánchez | 1980: Cabinho | 1981: Cabinho | 1982: Cabinho | 1983: Outes | 1984: Outes | 1985: Cabinho | PRODE 85: Lira | México 1986: Cruz | 1987: Zalazar | 1988: Flores | 1989: Lira | 1990: Comas | 1991: García | 1992: García | 1993: Basay | 1994: Hermosillo | 1995: Hermosillo | 1996: Hermosillo | Invierno 1996: Muñoz | Verano 1997: Caballero/Sáez | Invierno 1997: García | Verano 1998: Cardozo | Invierno 1998: Blanco | Verano 1999: Cardozo | Invierno 1999: Olalde | Verano 2000: Bejines/Delgado/Abreu | Invierno 2000: Borgetti | Verano 2001: Borgetti | Invierno 2001: Rodríguez | Verano 2002: Abreu | Apertura 2002: Cardozo | Clausura 2003: Cardozo | Apertura 2003: Rey | Clausura 2004: Marioni/Silvera | Apertura 2004: Franco | Clausura 2005: Vuoso | Apertura 2005: Abreu/Gaitán/Kléber/Vuoso | Clausura 2006: Abreu/Cabañas | Apertura 2006: Marioni | Clausura 2007: Bravo | Apertura 2007: Moreno | Clausura 2008: Suazo | Apertura 2008: Mancilla | Clausura 2009: Mancilla | Apertura 2009: Villa | Bicentenario 2010: Fano/Gomez/J. Hernández | Apertura 2010: Benítez | Clausura 2011: Reyna | Apertura 2011: AlonsoMLS All-Star Game MVP 1996: Valderrama | 1997: Valderrama | 1998: McBride | 1999: Preki | 2000: Diallo | 2001: Donovan | 2002: Etcheverry | 2003: Ruiz | 2004: Guevara | 2005: Twellman | 2006: De Rosario | 2007: Ángel | 2008: Blanco | 2009: Howard | 2010: Macheda | 2011: Park
Deportivo Irapuato – current squad 1 Corona · 2 Márquez · 3 M. Gutiérrez · 4 Franco · 6 Razo · 7 J. J. Gutiérrez · 8 Manrique · 9 L. Casanova · 10 C. Blanco · 11 González · 12 A. Blanco · 13 Vega · 14 Reyna · 15 Jiménez · 18 Pizzichillo · 22 Saucedo · 23 Ibarra · 27 Gómez · 37 Valadéz · 39 Castillo · 40 Garza · 44 Arellano · 45 J. C. Gutiérrez · 50 M. Casanova · 55 Hernández · 58 Cruz · 99 Rodríguez · Manager: Batocletti
Categories:- 1973 births
- Living people
- Mexican footballers
- Sportspeople from Mexico City
- Primera División de México players
- Club América footballers
- Club Necaxa footballers
- CD Veracruz players
- La Liga footballers
- Real Valladolid footballers
- 1995 King Fahd Cup players
- 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup players
- 1998 FIFA World Cup players
- 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup players
- 2002 FIFA World Cup players
- 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup players
- 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup players
- 1997 Copa América players
- 1999 Copa América players
- 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players
- 2007 Copa América players
- 2010 FIFA World Cup players
- CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players
- FIFA Confederations Cup-winning players
- Olympic footballers of Mexico
- Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Mexico international footballers
- Chicago Fire players
- Mexican expatriates in the United States
- Mexican expatriate footballers
- FIFA Century Club
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