Two broken hearts come together in Guadalajara. Javier Hernández will play for Chivas again after a career in which he became the top scorer in Europe. He returns at a fragile time for the Mexican team, which lost a Liga MX final at home, and will also try out former Boca and Real Madrid player Fernando Gago as coach. Both the club and Chicharito need each other to redeem themselves.
Hernández, 35, disappeared from European football's radar in 2020 after shining at Manchester United, a decent season on loan at Real Madrid, a passionate spell at Bayer Leverkusen and three years of good quality at West Ham United . The Mexican gave up his place in Seville to become the idol of Mexicans in the United States with LA Galaxy. The Mexican then realized that it was the beginning of his retirement. “I want it to be as big as possible,” he said. But it was not like that. Injuries and poor performance robbed him of his shine. He scored 39 goals in four seasons. He scored 59 goals in his five seasons at Manchester United alone. However, the comparison requires the nuance of U.S. Soccer's moderate competitiveness.
What happened to the golden boy of Mexico? How did the Mexican team's current top goalscorer fall? The 2018 World Cup in Russia was one of the turning points for Hernández. At that moment he felt like a natural leader of the Mexican team. He was seen as the leading face of a generation that promised to change everything for Mexico. He was considered an inviolable asset to the national team. Before the World Cup he was the star of a party that broke up the dressing room and after hours of tension he was forced to publicly admit his mistake.
Chicharito fell back into organizing off-field events that caused an uproar in the Mexican Football Federation. The nightly parties cost him his place in the national team. The then coach Tata Martino eventually removed him from the squad. He has not played with the green jersey since September 2019. In addition to these conflicts, Hernández allied himself with a supposed coaching guru, Diego Dreyfus. The Mexican revealed on his social networks his private life, including the birth of one of his children. The footballer, who previously presented himself to the public as a good student, became a content creator. His Naked Humans channel no longer exists and his romantic relationship with Sarah Kohan ended.
The personal momentum cost Chicharito, who was unable to fill the role of the idol in Los Angeles. His performance was not optimal and in his free time he played video games on Twitch. The Spanish streamer Ibai invited him to a game in the Kings League. Chicharito only found resonance on the internet. Everything came crashing down for him in June 2023 when he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. In the long run, this cost him his job with the Galaxy as his contract was not renewed. Chicharito dedicated himself to building his own team in the Kings League Americas called Olimpo. It seemed like it was going to be a tough end to his playing career until Chivas came looking for him.
Guadalajara will try in 2024 with Fernando Gago as technical director. The decision was made by Fernando Hierro, sporting director, following the dismissal of Serbian Veljko Paunovic, who led the club to the final last May and lost it in improbable fashion at home. The club also resents the fact that its biggest rival, América, won the last Liga MX, establishing itself as Mexico's most successful league. Chivas is clinging to a Chicharito resurrection to return to glory.
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