Farewell Temoc

Blanco after last night’s game/Getty Images

A number of postings on this site have been spent criticizing both MLS and Cuauhtemoc Blanco himself. However, last night I felt honored as I witnessed live both Blanco’s 100th cap and his final appearance for Mexico in a 2-1 victory over Canada in Chiapas. Blanco has been a colorful and somewhat unsporting players at times in his career. But his quality has been unmistakable for El Tri and for America where he spent the better part of his club career. Blanco kept himself in shape and motivated to get to 100 caps despite the reluctance of both Ricardo Lavolpe and Hugo Sanchez to feature him prominently.

Blanco’s final crowning achievment for Mexico was helping El Tri under a new manager, Sven Goran Eriksson sweep its home matches in World Cup qualifying group play thus virtually ensuring passage to the final round of qualifying. Those of us in the United States are fortunate enough to watch this living legend continue plying his trade here in MLS. For the rest of you, he will be sorely missed no doubt.