Gary A. Vasquez – USA TODAY Sports
A number of players in recent memory have gone on from playing for famed Mexican side Chivas de Guadalajara to go and ply their trade in Europe. Players who have done this are Carlos Salcido, Francisco Javier ‘Maza’ Rodriguez and most famously, Javier Hernandez to Manchester United in 2010.
Marco Fabian has been rumored to be the latest Chivas player to continue his footballing career in Europe. The attacking midfielder, who was an integral part of a México team that won the Olympic Gold Medal in Soccer last year in the London 2012 Games, has been rumored to be heading to play for one of Europe’s top leagues.
Last summer, it was rumored that Serie A side Udinese was interested in acquiring the services of Fabian, but it seemed that a tough 2012-13 season had severely dashed those hopes, but once again, this summer, Fabian became a desired name, as Stoke City of the English Premier League has been heavily linked to acquire his services.
Yet, if Fabian really wants to realize his dream and go play in Europe, he will need to stop sabotaging his chances. Once again, Fabian has been rumored to have engaged in act which saw him disciplined by Chivas. For as talented as he can be and is, Fabian has engaged in a number of bone-headed acts, and those acts, one can assume, have not gone unnoticed by his potential European suitors.
Fabian had his first misstep during the summer of 2011, when he was one of a number of players on the Mexican squad who were given six-month suspensions for having broken team rules by engaging with prostitutes following a Copa América warm-up match against Ecuador in Quito.
Then, in October of the same year, Fabian was once again the center of controversy. After he scored a goal against Estudiantes Tecos in a league game, he “celebrated” by pretending to pull the trigger of a “gun” placed on the forehead of then-teammate Alberto Medina. Given the climate in México at the time, and one that still is omnipresent of high rate of crime as a result of what was President Felipe Calderon‘s war on drug cartels, was not smart to say the least.
Just when it seemed like he had gotten past all that, he had re-discovered his form this summer, being one of the few players who escaped criticism from the press for what as a summer of hell for the Mexican national team. It is rumored that he was benched for Sunday’s Liga MX home game against Atlante for breaking a team rule of no drinking 48 hours before a game.
Again, Fabian clearly has a history of self-sabotage, and things are just too good to be true. While it is understandable that he is frustrated over his move to Europe being delayed, going out and not behaving like a professional is not the way to go about it; if anything, it has the opposite desired effect.
Fabian must realize that his latest (supposed) transgression is not going to speed up any potential transfer to Stoke City. If anything, it could have ended his chances of joining their club. The best thing for him is to come out and publicly save face. And behind the scenes, he has to work with his club to ensure a transfer does happen.
Fabian is a player, who at a club like Stoke City, can — and I believe will — do well, but he needs to grow up and stop the self-sabotage by going out and not acting like a professional because in the end, it could mean that he, and he alone, is the reason that his European footballing dreams have been closed.
Lucas Carreras is a contributing Soccer writer for www.RantSports.com. You can follow Lucas by following him on Twitter @maldini3fan and add him to your circles on Google+.
