Javier Hernández Balcázar (Spanish pronunciation: [xaˈβjer erˈnandes]; born 1 June 1988), also known simply as Chicharito (Spanish: little pea), is a Mexican footballer who currently plays as a forward for Manchester United, being the first Mexican to do so, and the Mexican national team. He previously played for Mexican club Guadalajara. He made his debut for Mexico in September 2009 in a match against Colombia and represented them at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, scoring twice. He is the son of Javier Hernández Gutiérrez and the grandson of Tomás Balcázar.
Early life
Hernández was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco and first played in a recreation league when he was seven years old. His father, Javier Hernández Gutiérrez, himself a previous Mexican international striker, said he never thought his son would actually make it as a professional. Hernández joined C.D. Guadalajara at the age of nine and signed his first professional contract when he was 15.[2] He was set to play in the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship, but an injury sidelined him from the team that ultimately won the championship.[3]
Club career
C.D. Guadalajara
Hernández began playing with Chivas' lower division team, Chivas Coras in Tepic, Nayarit in the 2005–06 season. He made his debut for Chivas in the 2006 Apertura in a win over Necaxa at Estadio Jalisco. With the score at 3–0, Hernández came on as a substitute for Omar Bravo in the 82nd minute, before scoring the fourth goal of the game five minutes later. It was his only goal in seven appearances in 2006–07. He made a further six appearances in 2007–08 without scoring.
Hernández made ten appearances in the 2008 Apertura without scoring, but he scored four goals in fifteen appearances in the 2009 Clausura. In the 2009 Apertura, Hernández finished as the joint-third top scorer, with eleven goals in seventeen appearances.[4] He started the 2010 Torneo Bicentenario with eight goals in five games.[5] He finished as a joint-leader in the goalscoring chart for the 2010 Torneo Bicentenario, with ten goals in eleven games.[6]
Manchester United
Manchester United was first made aware of Hernández in October 2009; a scout went to Mexico that December and reported positively after watching a few games. Because of Hernández's age, the club originally planned to wait before making a move to sign him, but his potential involvement with the national team at the World Cup rushed the club into making a bid. United's chief scout, Jim Lawlor, was sent to Mexico for three weeks in February and March to watch Hernández and filed another positive report on him, before the club solicitor went over to Mexico to finalise the paperwork.[7]
On 8 April 2010, Hernández agreed a deal to sign for Manchester United for an undisclosed fee, subject to a work permit application.[8] The previous day, Hernández had been present at Manchester United's Champions League quarter-final win over Bayern Munich at Old Trafford.[9] The deal was conducted in complete secrecy; Hernández's agent was kept in the dark, as was his grandfather Tomás Balcázar, who thought Hernández was going on a trip to Atlanta in the United States.[10][11] As part of the deal, United played a friendly against Chivas to open their new stadium on 30 July.[12] On 27 May, the work permit was granted, allowing the transfer to be made official on 1 July.[13]
2010–11 season
Hernández made his United debut on 28 July, coming on as a 63rd-minute substitute for Nani in the 2010 MLS All-Star Game; he then scored his first goal for the club 18 minutes later, lobbing the ball over Nick Rimando from just outside the area after a long through-ball from Darren Fletcher.[14] Two days later, Hernández scored against Manchester United while playing in a friendly for his old club, Chivas; he started the game in a Chivas jersey and scored after just eight minutes. He switched sides at half-time, but he was unable to prevent a 3–2 defeat for Manchester United.[15] He then scored for the third pre-season game in a row as he netted in a 7–1 victory over a League of Ireland XI at the newly built Aviva Stadium on 4 August.[16]
Hernández made his competitive debut on 8 August and scored his first goal in the process, netting United's second of a 3–1 victory over Chelsea in the 2010 FA Community Shield. He came on at the start of the second half and got on the end of a pass from Antonio Valencia before the Mexican's shot deflected off his own face and into the net.[17] On 16 August, Hernández made his Premier League debut as he replaced Wayne Rooney in the 63rd minute of their 3–0 home victory over Newcastle United.[18] He scored his first goal ever goal in the UEFA Champions League on 29 September, coming off the bench to score the only goal in an away win over Valencia.[19] He scored his first league goal for United in a 2–2 home draw against West Bromwich Albion on 16 October.[20] Eight days later he scored his first brace for the club, also his first away league goals, in a 2–1 away win over Stoke City.[21]
Two days on from this display, he came off the bench to score a last-minute winner, his first ever League Cup goal, in a 3–2 win over Wolves which sent them through to the quarter-finals where they were then knocked out by West Ham United.[22][23] On 1 January 2011, he came off the bench to head the winning goal in a 2–1 away win over West Bromwich Albion.[24] Hernández became the top scoring Mexican in Premier League history after opening the scoring in a 2–1 home victory over Stoke City on 4 January.[25] He scored his first FA Cup goal as he netted the winner in a 2–1 away victory over Southampton.[26] Hernández netted twice in a 4–0 away win over Wigan on 26 February.[27] Hernández netted twice in a 2–1 home win over Marseille on 15 March, sending United through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.[28] On 8 April, Hernández was revealed as a contender for the PFA Young Player of the Year award alongside teammate Nani.[29] He opened the scoring in the 2–1 quarter-final win over Chelsea in the Champions League, with the game ending 3–1 on aggregate, sending United through to the Semi-Finals.[30] He continued his goal scoring form on 23th April scoring the winning goal with a header in the 1-0 win over Everton.[31]
International career
Mexico under-20
Hernández was one of the 21 players called up to the Mexican under-20 national team for the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup being held in Canada; he wore the number 11 shirt.[32]
Mexico national team
On 30 September 2009, Hernández made his debut for Mexico against Colombia, where he made an assist in a 2–1 loss.[33] On 24 February 2010, Hernández scored two goals against Bolivia and had an assist for Braulio Luna's goal. On 3 March, Hernández scored a header against New Zealand, giving Mexico the lead in a 2–0 victory.[34] On 17 March, Hernández scored his fourth international goal to give Mexico a 2–1 victory over North Korea.[35] On 26 May, he scored a consolation header against the Netherlands in a 2–1 loss.[36] On 30 May, Hernández scored yet again, netting twice in a 5–1 victory over Gambia.[37]
2010 FIFA World Cup
On 11 June, Hernández made his FIFA World Cup debut during the opening game of the 2010 tournament against South Africa in a 1–1 draw, coming on in the 73rd minute to replace Guillermo Franco.[38] On 17 June, Hernández again came off the bench and this time scored his first ever World Cup goal, netting the first in a 2–0 victory over France by springing the offside trap, latching onto a through ball from Rafael Marquez, sidestepping Hugo Lloris and sidefooting into the net.[39][40] By scoring he emulated his grandfather, Tomas Balcazar, who scored in the 1954 World Cup against France.[41] He was elected as Man of the Match.[42] On 27 June, Hernández made his first start at a World Cup and netted his second goal of the World Cup, by turning Martin Demichelis on the edge of the box before sending a left-foot shot into the roof of the net,[43] in Mexico's 3-1 loss against Argentina in the round of 16.[44] FIFA's statistical analysis showed that Hernández was the quickest player in World Cup 2010, reaching a top speed of 32.15 km/h.[45]
Post World Cup
He scored another goal in his first match for Mexico since the World Cup, in a friendly against world champions Spain on 11 August 2010. He scored after just 12 minutes of the match, but David Silva equalised for Spain in the last minute of play to claim a 1–1 draw.[46] Hernández scored his and Mexico's first international goal of 2011 as he opened the scoring in a 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina on 9 February.[47] On March 26 Hernandez went on to score two goals in an international friendly against Paraguay. He first connected off an pass from Pablo Barrera in the sixth minute of the match. He then scored a goal off an low cross in the 29th minute three minutes after fellow teamate Andres Guardado had made the score 2-0. He exited in the 65th minute receiving a standing ovation.[48]
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