Blanco Set To Join Mexican Side Veracruz

Cuauhtemoc Blanco will leave the Chicago Fire at the end of the season and rejoin Veracruz, the Mexican club announced Thursday.

Veracruz play in Mexico's second division and are one of Blanco's former clubs.

"There was great earthquake (Thursday)," Veracruz President Raul Quintana said in a press confernece. "It was because we were able to acquire Cuauhtemoc Blanco. We can say now that because of the work of (club vice president) Marcos Fastlicht and myself that from Jan. 1, he will join the Tiburones Rojos of Veracruz."

For his part, Blanco said he is keeping a promise he once made to the Veracruz faithful.

"I've had a great experience with MLS and I've been treated well," Blanco said in a statement released on his Web site. "Now I am entering a new phase in my career and there was interest from several Mexican clubs so that I could return home. I will begin a new stage with Veracruz, a team I have played for and promised to return to one day."

Blanco spent the Apertura 2004 season with Veracruz and helped the club finish atop the overall table in the Mexican Primera Division. Veracruz have since been relegated to the Liga de Ascenso.

The move will mostly benefit the Mexican national team, as Blanco will be able to report to Mexico's World Cup training camp, which will begin in April. The Mexican national team had announced their intentions of holding a 60-day training camp, but the camp will essentially be for Mexico's domestic players. Those based abroad will join the Mexican national team upon completion of their respective domestic campaigns.

With Blanco in Veracruz, he will be able participate in the training camp from the start, provided he is named to the roster.

Blanco, 36, has been a standout with Chicago since joining MLS in 2007. He has led Chicago to the MLS playoffs in each of his three seasons with the Fire, including his first year, in which the Fire turned their season around almost instantly with Blanco aboard.

This year, Blanco scored five goals and notched eight assists in 21 games. He also returned to El Tri after retiring internationally in 2008. He had three goals in six World Cup qualifying matches and helped Mexico turn their campaign around with five consecutive victories.

Chicago will play New England in the first round of the MLS playoffs as Blanco will try to reach MLS Cup for the first time.

Goal.com

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