MLS- Cuauthemoc Blanco leaves the Chicago Fire

By Audrey Nolan

Cuauthemoc Blanco announced this Tuesday that he will be leaving from the Chicago Fire as soon as the season is over since his contract will be done. He made the announcement during the Fire’s kickoffs luncheon during a media press. He didn’t gave any explanations he just said that this will be the last season that he will be with the Fire; this is the first time that he speaks with the media so openly and makes and announcement like this.

Blanco signed a contract with the Chicago Fire in the middle of 2007, one of the most lucrative contracts in the franchise history if not the more lucrative one. The deal was for one year and a half with an option of playing in 2009. He will make more than $2.94 millions this year.

I'm leaving this year," Blanco told Hoy Chicago, a Spanish-language publication. "My contract will be done, and I will leave happy because I have great teammates. It's a decision I made. I think I've made an impact here," Blanco said. "But when this season ends, I'll look for other options."

He also said that he doesn’t know what he is going to do at the end, but he will look for other options in the MLS or in his country Mexico. However, what he left very clearly is that he is not going to play with the Fire anymore after the season ends.

The Chicago Fire president Dave Greeley said that they have no choice rather than respect the decision that Blanco wants to take; he hopes that in the mean time, while the season is not over maybe he can reconsider and change his mind, even though is very unlikely. He also stated that he expects the best of him for this season since Blanco is a great player and someone that has help the Fire over the past two seasons.

Blanco played on Saturday’s night opening game over Dallas but was substituted because he had a knee injury in the preseason and coach Denis Hamlett said that Blanco was not at his best level. The injury has slowed him down despite of he played for ten minutes and scored a free kick goal; the game finished with a victory for the Fire 3-1.

Cuauthemoc said that he will respect the coach decision if he thinks that he still not in a good shape to play the whole game. The reason may come because Blanco had only two weeks of preseason training and the team had eight weeks training already, but the swelling on his knee cause him to have some rest.

Blanco retired from Mexico's national team last September after his 97th international appearance; he played his first game with the national team in February 1995 against Uruguay and appeared in the 1998 and 2002 World Cups. He was part of Mexico's winning team at the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 1996 and 1998, and helped in Mexico’s victory over Brazil at the 1999 Confederations Cup. He has 12 goals and 18 assists in 42 games with Chicago.

About the Author

Audrey Nolan is a top senior copy writer on MLS Games for the online sports betting: http://www.instantactionsports.com. Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety on your site, make sure to leave all links in place and do not modify any of the content.