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 News from Around the Americas | May 2005 
Controversial Striker Evokes Strong Reactions
 Jorge Guzmán - El Universal
| | Cuauhtémoc Blanco speaks to El Universal about his relationship with the nation's soccer fans. |
When Cuauhtémoc Blanco is on the field, it is impossible for Mexican soccer fans to remain indifferent. Either they lavish him with unconditional worship, or they subject him to an outpouring of uncontrollable loathing.
His flashy style of play, his supreme confidence (his detractors would call it arrogance), and his off-field problems have made him a star that you love, or love to hate. And not only is the America striker aware of this ambivalence, he thrives on it.
In an exclusive interview with El Universal, he talked about the mixed feelings that he inspires in the public, as well as his rocky relationship with the press.
"Yeah, it's always been like that," he recognizes. "But as for the people who have long criticized me, I have always said that they are going to end up the worse for it. God may not want it that way, and I would never wish harm on anyone, but at the least, they ought to get sick with something."
In 2004, Blanco was singled out as a provocateur in an ugly incident at the end of a Copa Liberadores game against Brazil's Sao Caetano. In the final moments of the match, Blanco was expelled for throwing an elbow. At the conclusion of the game, which saw America eliminated from the tournament, players from both sides began pushing and shoving and some of America's fans tried to storm the field.
"The truth is that I did not provoke that, although I'm not one to put the blame on my friends, either," he says. "I was simply on my way out of the locker room when that all happened. But because the press here likes to attack me so much, they criticized and singled me out until the very end."
The Sao Caetano incident was not the only time that Blanco captured negative headlines. He has also been accused of spousal abuse, he has had several instances of aggressive behavior with reporters, and his no-holdsbarred style of play on the field has brought accusations of dirtiness.
When asked if he feels that the press has served as a barrier that prevents fans from getting to know the real Cuauhtémoc Blanco, he had this to say: "Nowadays, it's all about who can sell the most copies and who can put out the most important story and so (the press) doesn't know how to appreciate the work that someone has done," he said. "Also, there's a lot of jealousy in this league, so they want to see you down, they want to destroy your career ... and so the press, now the idea is not to do a good interview with you, it's to go for the jugular."
Blanco and his America teammates will have a chance to go for the jugular themselves this Thursday, when they take on Santos in the first round of the Mexican Soccer League playoffs. |
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