David Beckham might have made a bigger splash in the media and with the casual sports fan around the country, but one superstar who has made an immediate impact with his team is Cuauhtémoc Blanco.
The legendary Mexican national team star scored one goal and assisted on another as the Chicago Fire knocked off the Kansas City Wizards 2-0 on Saturday night at Toyota Park. With the win, Blanco and the Fire find themselves just one point behind Columbus for the eighth and final spot in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
"I think so far Blanco has been very good for us," said Chicago coach Juan Carlos Osorio. "I think he has probably been the more effective superstar in this league so far for the time that he has put in on the pitch.
"The most remarkable thing about him is his attitude. He has been playing with a bad leg and every single time I ask him about it, he wants to play and he doesn't want to stop. He wants to contribute as much as he can and he's been very, very good for us."
Blanco made his Chicago debut in a friendly on July 22 and in just five MLS games, the midfielder has scored twice and assisted on four Fire tallies. His assist on Saturday night was a lofting cross that found Calen Carr in the middle of the Kansas City penalty area in the 86th minute. Carr headed the pass to the right side of the Wizards goal for his third goal of the year.
"It was a off a corner kick to begin with and I'd been starting on the goalkeeper just to try and get in the way and they had a guy marking me most of the game," Carr said. "On this specific play, there was no one marking me and the ball got recycled out and I just curled on my run around. Blanco swung it in and it was a perfect ball. I just tried to head it down and it went in."
With the win, Chicago won the season series, taking two of the three meetings between the clubs, and also exacted revenge for a loss four days prior in Kansas City.
"I think everyone feels great, it's a huge win for us," Carr said. "We felt like we left some points on the field Wednesday against this team. We wanted to come out and right the ship and I think we did that."
Injuries have been a problem for Chicago this season and in the 13th minute the Fire had an early scare. Chicago midfielder Justin Mapp got tangled up with a Wizards player when he was sprinting down the right side of the field with the ball. Mapp was taken out in the 28th minute with a right ankle sprain.
"Justin said that his ankle is not that bad and hopefully we'll find out soon that it isn't," Osorio said.
Chicago was able to get 10 shots away against Kansas City but defender Dasan Robinson felt the Fire could have scored more than two goals in the contest.
"We had some good chances and we should have put some of them away," Robinson said. "However, we were able to put some of those chances away and we're playing better than we did earlier this season. We're working harder, not just on the field but also off the field, and I believe that's making a difference."
Tim Hilton is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
