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Blanco's Farewell

By RUBÉN BOZZALLA / Vida En El Valle

In Chiapas there were celebrations, tears, surprises and unrest.

The 2-1 victory against Canada at Víctor Manuel Reyna left the Mexican national soccer team with a perfect record in 2010 World Cup qualifying and, even though it must be known that the Mexicans did not play well, the nine points it has accumulated in three matches are not for discussion.

However, that was not the most important topic last Wednesday night.

Twenty-four hours prior to the match -- and to the surprise of many -- Cuauhtémoc Blanco, one of the national team's most idolized players in recent years, announced his retirement with the national team at the conclusion of the match against Canada.

Despite the intense rain that arrived prior to and in the match's second half, the fans did not want to lose the opportunity of seeing Blanco's final minutes of play with the Tri.

The majority of the fans had no doubts of a win against Canada, but this Mexican team was not the same one that faced Jamaica. But, then, this Canada team was not as inventive as the one that matched up against Honduras.

The question is that the Tri had to suffer more than needed to pick up the win. Shortly after the second half began, Omar Bravo, who was inserted into the lineup, opened the scoring in a closely fought match. Later, defender Rafael Márquez made the difference only to see Canada score to pull within one goal of knotting up the match.

The final 10 minutes were full of suffering, until Mexican head coach Sven Goran Eriksson, with one minute left in regulation, delighted the crowd and Blanco by inserting himself into the lineup for his official farewell to the national team.

In extra time, Canada almost converted on a mistake for the tie. But, that didn't happen and México pocketed the win.

What came later was for the imagination. Applaud. Tears. Handshakes by teammates. Shouts from the stands, "Don't go Temo," almost in unison.

However, after all these, the criticism arrived for the head coach from various places, as much as from fans as from the soccer-writing scribes.

For the followers and defenders of Blanco, what Eriksson did in not getting him into the match earlier was a lack of respect for their player. For them, it was inconceivable to think that a player with the career that 'Cuau' has enjoyed was only going to play a few minutes in his final match. No doubt that for this group, the result was secondary, at least in the way they expressed their dissatisfaction.

The other group threw out harsh criticism, pointing out the risk the head coach ran in putting in Blanco when the victory had not been assured. The media left the impression that Eriksson ceded to the fans' plea and their pressure of getting Blanco into the game.

In a cold analysis, once more Blanco made an inopportune decision at a key time for the national team when the entire team was focused on the match against Canada and its goal of scoring a win to remain atop the group standings with a greater cushion.

Blanco knew perfectly the immediate effect that news of his retirement would generate, and no one understands how he did not make this known to Eriksson well in advance, or at least at the moment he was called up to the national team.

"I had my mind made up 15 days ago. For me, it's very important," said Blanco after the match. "I leave happy. My cycle on the national team has ended. I have always said one must leave on a good note."

At 35, Blanco clearly showed that he took his call up to the national team without much commitment and used it as a way to continue his time in case he was not a starter.

It could also have been that under a new system he became aware in the few practices he had with the national team that his level of play and demand was not at the level of his colleagues.

Either way, this was not the time nor place to say his farewell.

Soccerwise, Blanco has been great, without a doubt, and that will remain in people's minds even though the way he said goodbye surprised us all.

Send e-mail to: rubengol@aol.com