Mexico’s ‘Chicharito,’ Javier Hernández, Joins Los Angeles Galaxy in M.L.S.

Hernández, who is known as Chicharito, or Little Pea, is a hero to fans of the Mexican national team. The son and grandson of former Mexico players, the baby-faced Hernández is the national team’s career goals leader and its most popular drawing card.

He played most recently for Sevilla, but he struggled to make an impact, scoring only once in nine league appearances.

“People are going to say it was because I couldn’t make it, but sometimes in football there are things that are not in your hands,” Hernández told The Los Angeles Times. “The last two years, the managers decided on giving confidence to other players rather than me.”

A big-name veteran player coming to M.L.S. — and to the Galaxy, in particular — is nothing new, of course. Before Ibrahimovic, the star-hungry Galaxy employed aging stars like Robbie Keane and Landon Donovan (who both won the league’s Most Valuable Player Award) and Steven Gerrard and Ashley Cole (whose tenures were far less memorable).

Before all of them, the team was the landing spot for the biggest M.L.S. signing of them all: David Beckham, who played for the team from 2007 to 2012.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/21/sports/soccer/chicharito-galaxy.html?emc=rss&partner=rss