Cuauhtémoc Blanco

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Blanco was born in Mexico City, in the district of Tlatilco, but grew up in Tepito. Born to Faustino Blanco and Hortensia Bravo, he was named after the last Aztec emperor Cuauhtémoc, in which the name means 'one who has descended like an eagle'. He started his career with América in 1992, where he won various awards, both team-based and individual, and had various loan stints with Necaxa, Spanish club Real Valladolid, and Veracruz. In 2007, he joined the Chicago Fire, with a loan stint with Santos Laguna for the 2008 Apertura championship. In 2010, he returned to Mexico to trek throughout various teams, joining Veracruz again, Irapuato, Dorados, and Puebla-based teams Lobos BUAP and Puebla, where he retired with the latter in 2015. The following year, he came out of retirement to officially end his career with América.

In Their Own Story

On June 17, 2010, at the South Africa World Cup, Blanco etched his name in history. In the 78th minute of a group stage match against France, he converted a penalty to secure a 2–0 victory. This goal made him the first Mexican to score in three different World Cups and the third-oldest goalscorer in tournament history. Earlier that year on September 13, 2008, he had earned his 100th cap against Canada in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, entering the field with just 15 seconds remaining before announcing his retirement from international football. He eventually returned to the squad for the qualifiers but officially retired after a tribute game against Israel on April 13, 2014, where Mexico won 3–0 at Estadio Azteca.

Reader's Guide

Blanco represented Mexico from 1995 to 2010 (with a special appearance in 2014). He was capped 120 times and scored 38 goals. Blanco is the only Mexican to have won Confederations Cup awards, being awarded the Silver Ball and Silver Boot at the 1999 Confederations Cup after a first-place finish on home soil, until Oswaldo Sánchez's Golden Glove award in 2005. In 2010, he became the first Mexican to score at three World Cup tournaments, a feat later equalled by Rafael Márquez and Javier Hernández, appearing in the 1998, 2002, and 2010 editions of the tournament. He made his debut with the senior national team under Bora Milutinovic in a friendly match against Uruguay on 1 February 1995. He was a member of the team that won the Confederations Cup in 1999 where he was the tournament's leading scorer with six goals, including the winning goal at the Estadio Azteca against Brazil in the final. He was awarded the 'Silver Shoe' and 'Silver Ball' for outstanding player of the tournament. In the selection for the final 23-man squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, then 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 from penalty kicks. On 13 September 2008, he earned his 100th cap for his country in its 2–1 World Cup qualifier victory over Canada at Tuxtla Gutiérrez, coming on with only 15 seconds left in regulation time. After the match, he announced his retirement from international football. With the return of Javier Aguirre as coach, Blanco returned to the national team in May 2009. He played in all the games throughout the Hexagonal of the World Cup Qualifying. Since then, Blanco has become an important factor in Mexico's team regaining 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.

Did You Know?

• Blanco scored six goals in the 1999 Confederations Cup, making him the tournament's leading scorer.
• Blanco is the only Mexican to have won Confederations Cup awards, receiving the Silver Ball and Silver Boot in 1999.
• Blanco earned his 100th cap for Mexico on 13 September 2008, coming on with only 15 seconds left in regulation time against Canada.