Ismael Blanco: a striker’s rebuild after hanging up his boots | OneFootball

Former player Ismael Blanco looked back on his career and shared anecdotes about it, first of all denying the rumors that emerged in 2014 about a possible call-up to the Egypt national team. On the matter, Blanco clarified that the interest came from a confusion over his name, since “they thought I had Egyptian roots and it was all because of my name”, a theory that was later ruled out, joking that “Blanco is just from my hometown”. The contact even continued during the World Cup in Brazil, when they reached out to try to speed up his passport: “They wanted me to do everything quickly because they wanted to have me”.

After playing for numerous clubs in countries such as Greece, Mexico, Ecuador, Poland, and Germany, Blanco admitted he feels satisfied with his career. Although offers from big clubs in Argentina never materialized because “if the paperwork doesn’t show up, then nothing is concrete”, he says he is at peace with it: “I’m happy with what football gave me, and that’s it. I enjoyed every place I was”.

Regarding his retirement, he admitted that the transition is not easy and that at first “being at home on weekends, first I couldn’t stand myself and then neither could my family”, due to not being used to sharing the daily routine. To cope with it, he tried to make retirement “gradual, to prepare so the break wouldn’t be abrupt”, and he currently spends his time on a family business with padel courts, where he enjoys staying in touch with acquaintances and former footballers.

Finally, speaking about agents in football, Blanco described them as a necessary evil, humorously noting that “when he brings you the contract, he’s lovely, and when he’s not around or starts doing things, you want to kill him”.

The “crazy” time he put on the gloves at Barcelona of Ecuador

Blanco is hugely idolized at Barcelona de Guayaquil, and in his conversations people always remind him of one of his biggest peculiarities: having had to play as goalkeeper.

“It was one of the many crazy things I sometimes have in my head… Goalkeeper is the hardest position in football, they shoot at you and you’ve got nobody to defend you. I tried to do it with professionalism and responsibility to defend my teammates.”

He also took a “shot” regarding playing at altitude in Quito against Liga de Quito, demystifying the opponent’s pressure: “Our clásico is Emelec, there’s no other one… What helps Liga is the altitude inside the stadium, which is really strong. You had to play with an oxygen tank. You go out to play and by the second half you don’t even have legs anymore”.

His love for Colón de Santa Fe

Although he is originally from the province of Entre Ríos (Santa Elena), he feels like just another man from Santa Fe. He came through the youth ranks at Colón, made his debut there under Jorge Fossati in a memorable match against Independiente, and is an openly devoted fan of the club.

📋 The future: the head coach tracksuit is already ready

Although these days he splits his weekends running his padel court complex, Blanco has already finished the course and is a professional head coach.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.