MEXICO CITY -- Estadio Azteca is Cuauhtemoc Blanco's home. He's the only Mexican footballer that has been able to bring down the stadium with his goals and assists. Not even Hugo Sanchez, Rafael Marquez or Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez, all of whom have played for the best clubs in the world like Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Manchester United, have been able to achieve it.
To find another Mexican player who could one day match Blanco's heart feels like an impossible task but in the modern era, with more Mexican footballers playing in Europe, there have been undeniable acts of brilliance from several of El Tri's current stars.
But will they ever match Blanco's undisputed brilliance?
"For me, to represent my country is a source of pride," Blanco began to explain to ESPN in the documentary about his vast footballing career, "Emperador Cuauhtemoc." "And when they play the national anthem, my heart bursts out, I want to cry. I feel a Mexican pride and feel the need to say 'I'm here Germans, French, Spaniards! I'm going for you and I'm going to finish you off!'"
Every time Blanco stepped onto the field, wearing the green shirt, that was his train of thought: finish off the opponent in front of him. He did it in each of the three World Cups he played in, including his last one in 2010 where, at 37 years old, he could hardly sprint.
"Cuauhtemoc did not mind, in those moments of intense pressure, to ask for the ball. I did not know of a player who would put on the green shirt and would fit on him as well as it did on Blanco," recounted former Mexico national teamer and now ESPN analyst, "Paco" Gabriel de Anda.
In that 2010 World Cup, which Mexico was able to attend thanks to Blanco's exploits after he came back from national team retirement, acclaimed Mexican writer and journalist Juan Villoro best depicted what Blanco represents to Mexican football.
"Cuauhtemoc Blanco represents the values, perhaps in extinction, of mischief on the pitch. His body defies that of an average athlete. He walks like a duck and lacks a neck. But football is democratic in physical matters and Blanco scores goals with his hump," he wrote in El Pais.
Blanco represents the people that you see in every corner of Mexico City, his place of birth; he acts like the mechanic in the Tepito or the butcher at Coyoacan's market, which is why he always had a strong following since his debut with Club America in 1992. When asked who could match his heart and grit, Blanco already selected his possible predecessors.
"Based on playing style, I think Giovani dos Santos and Carlos Vela would have exploded their potential if we had coincided more often [in the national team]; they're great players. They're my friends, and they know what I feel about them. But I think they lack character and the ambition to keep on winning," he said.
When talking to Patricio "Pato" Araujo, who currently plays at Puebla and was Giovani and Vela's captain in Mexico's U-17 and U-20 national teams, he agreed that both players are important in Mexican football's recent history but there's one that stands out when comparing both.
"It's difficult for them to match Cuauhtemoc's charisma and way of being. We know that [Carlos] Vela is a little too relaxed but serious, and Giovani [dos Santos] is more extroverted. I think when we compare their football characteristics, Vela has more skills in his repertoire than Giovani. If we're trying to find someone who can assimilate to Cuauhtemoc, that player is Vela," he told ESPN FC via phone.
While Giovani already exchanged La Liga for MLS, Vela is trying to regain some lost authority after a dismal 2015-16 season, following which Real Sociedad fans were willing to see him leave if a club came with the right offer. Vela remained in San Sebastian and is currently enjoying a season like the one he had in 2013-14, when he rejected the opportunity to play for El Tri in the 2014 World Cup.
Lately, as Giovani and Vela have had ups and downs in their respective careers, FC Porto's Jesus "Tecatito" Corona has made a noticeable case for himself. In the current Juan Carlos Osorio era, Corona has been Mexico's most important offensive threat, and there's enough evidence to suggest that he's not intimidated on being dubbed Mexico's best option at the no. 10 position, as fans in Houston witnessed him score a Messiesque goal against Venezuela in last summer's Copa America Centenario.
Former Mexican winger Ramon Morales, who was an integral part of Mexico's national teams in the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, offered his opinion about Corona's current form.
"Corona is Mexico's best player at taking down opponents' defenses, and he's going through a good moment over there at Porto," he said to ESPN FC. "But what El Profe Osorio and the rest of the national team should worry about is on finding a style that relates to the characteristics of our football and our players," he emphasized.
There's reasoning behind Morales' words but it's also important for El Tri to have that go-to-guy, especially in CONCACAF, where every opponent puts in that extra effort each time they see Mexico's green jersey.
With Giovani and "Tecatito" out of this call-up for El Tri's upcoming games, Vela has an invaluable opportunity to show why he can become that guy but of course, he'll do it knowing full well that it'll be difficult to ever live up to someone like "Temo" Blanco.
Nayib Moran covers Liga MX and the Mexican national team for ESPN FC. Twitter: @nayibmoran.