Chichartio: The Flagship And Idol Of Mexico

On 8th April 2010, Manchester United announced the signing of Javier Hernandez aka Chicharito, to the football world. At that time I presume most United fans were thinking: Who in the hell is this Mexican striker Chicharito?

Many United fans were probably wondering why Sir Alex Ferguson had paid Chivas £6m for a striker nobody outside North America had probably heard of. Well, all Mexicans were sure he would succeed with the Red Devils, but we were not counting of him performing like he did. In Chivas he was already a superstar. Back on his debut in 2006, Hernandez came on as a substitute to seal a 4-0 victory against Necaxa with a superb goal.

During the next three years he barely appeared in the Chivas line-up, due to a series of injuries in the team. However in the final months of 2009, Chicharito burst back into the first team successfully scoring a bucket-load of goals. Such success quickly gained him a spot of the Meixcan national team and Chicharito responded with impressive performances backed up by goals.

In the 2010 World Cup in South Africa he debuted on the global-stage with two magnificent goals against France and Argentina. All of a sudden everyone knew who Chicharito was and a large majority of pundits and fans were tipping the little striker to be a hit at Old Trafford.

As a United player he has likewise stunned the world scoring 20 goals in a highly successful first season in England and has won all kinds of praises from Sir Alex Ferguson, Sir Bobby Charlton and other United Legends. He is in the top charts for shirts selling and has created a trend in Mexico. Everyone over here loves him and United, even the followers of Chivas’ rival teams Atlas and America!

Chichartio has become the flagship of a new generation of footballers in Mexico. He has demonstrated that the success gained by Hugo Sanchez and Rafael Marquez at Real Madrid and Barcelona is not a strange coincidence of Mexican luck in European football. His hard work and perseverance, as well as his success, has opened the European market for Mexican footballers. We now have around 15 footballers playing in England, Germany, Spain, Greece, Croatia and other countries.

He is, at this moment, the most influential person in Mexico. At this moment of crisis in Mexico, in which violence and chaos is reigning our country, Chicharito stands like a role model and a reference to hope and evolution. He is Mexico’s top idol and we are all proud of his achievements to date.

Alejandro Castello @Castellop