Читать книгу Chicharito - The Biography of Javier Hernandez - Frank Worrall - Страница 7

There’s a billboard that stands 50ft high and 50ft wide in the city centre of Javier Hernandez’s hometown of Guadalajara in Mexico. You can’t miss it – it dominates the skyline above the Nike store. It features a picture of the player who is widely acknowledged as one of Mexico’s best ever and who is carving out a worldwide name for himself at arguably the biggest football club in the world, Manchester United.

Yes, Javier, arms aloft in triumph, wearing a United shirt, beams down at passing motorists and pedestrians from the billboard with a legendary accompanying message written on one side. Seven words proclaim the ever-developing legend of the boy who would grow up to become universally known as ‘Chicharito’ – ‘Te Vas Como Heroe, Regresa Como Leyenda’. Translated it reads: ‘You leave as a hero, return as a legend’.

And that is certainly proving to be the case. Since leaving his hometown for United in the summer of 2010, Javier has won a big place in the hearts of the fans at Old Trafford while also cementing his position as one of the best strikers on the planet – so good that just a year after he arrived in Manchester, Jose Mourinho was willing to pay £30million to take him to Real Madrid. Yet for all his stardom, increasing fame and obvious natural talent Javier also had another side to him; and it was most unusual in the era of the spoilt, totally selfish modern professional footballer. Javier is never in the papers for behaving badly or cheating on his girlfriend. That is probably down to his upbringing – he is a devout Catholic and believes in honesty and trust. He is faithful to his long-term girlfriend, Leticia Sahagun, and is more interested in improving himself as a human being than indulging in the hedonistic pursuits many of today’s footballers believe are perfectly acceptable. As I write this, he is improving his already excellent grasp of the English language and he believes in looking after his family. His mother Sopapilla and sister Ana live with him in a luxury home in the leafy Cheshire countryside near Manchester and his father, also called Javier, loves nothing better than joining them and spending time with his son. The Hernandezes are a close-knit family with a loyalty and love for one another that is a joy to witness: indeed, Javier senior quit his job in Mexico so that he could watch his son play in the World Cup in 2010 (more of that later).

Javier junior’s grandfather Tomas, now 79, summed up the young man’s outlook on life when he said, ‘I’m not sure there’s a man more dedicated to his work than my grandson. He has his diet – he doesn’t eat just anything. He never drinks even a drop of alcohol. He doesn’t stay up late for any reason. He’s a very quiet boy. He’s 100 per cent professional; he doesn’t stay up all hours. In Manchester, there might be people who try and change him but if they leave him to live like he knows how, he’ll be fine. He won’t even go out to the cinema sometimes. He prefers to come home after training, eat and then sleep.’

It is unusual but admirable to witness at first hand the rise of a young man who isn’t just a genius on the football field – but also a great guy off it. Someone who lacks the usual massive ego that goes hand in hand with today’s footballers. Someone who is humble, genuine and extremely likeable as a human being. This is the life story of the boy who would become known as the ‘Little Pea’ – and who would earn his right to legendary status on that billboard in Guadalajara through his deeds at United. The life story of the first Mexican player to ‘make it’ in the hustle and bustle of the English Premier League – and the life story of a young man who has the talent, dedication and humility to become a legend at Old Trafford and in his home country. A true hero for our oft troubled modern times…

Javier Hernandez Balcazar was born on June 1, 1988, in Guadalajara, a bustling city and the capital of the central Mexican state of Jalisco. Guadalajara is also Mexico’s second city and was, of course, the venue for some of England’s matches during the fabulous World Cup tournament of 1970 held in the country. Arguably the greatest World Cup ever, it sealed Mexico’s legend in footballing terms and will forever be remembered by Englishmen for a match that could itself easily go down as one of the greatest matches ever involving England. On June 7, 1970, England heroically lost 1-0 to Brazil at the Estadio Jalisco in Guadalajara. It was a match between arguably the world’s two finest teams and it featured breathtaking skills from Pelé, a fine winner from Jairzinho and a wonder save from Gordon Banks from a Pelé header – a save that would go down in the annals of football as ‘The Save of the Century’.

So Guadalajara already held its place in world footballing history – Chicharito’s father and grandfather had watched the Brazil v England match themselves and swooned at the skills on display – and it was the place where Javier would learn his skills and develop and mature as a footballer and a man. He played for Chivas Guadalajara, the top club team in the football-mad country.

Football was in the family’s DNA – both his father, Javier Hernandez Gutierrez, and grandfather, Tomas, had played at the top Mexican club level and for the national team. Chicharito has two surnames as is the tradition in Latin countries – Balcazar is the maternal family name while Hernandez is the paternal family name.

His father bought him his first football at 10 months old and taught him how to play from ‘as soon as he could walk’ and his mother Sopapilla Balcazar, a housewife, was just as encouraging. Like her husband, she could see that the boy had a rare natural talent – hardly surprising given the footballing DNA of his father and grandfather Tomas Balcazar.

Javier senior had made his name at top Mexican outfit Club de Futbol Estudiantes and went on to play 28 times for the Mexican national team. His father-in-law Tomas played for Chivas Guadalajara – like Javier Jnr and Javier Snr – and also in the 1954 World Cup for the Mexican national side.

Javier Snr would regularly take his son to a piece of wasteland next to Guadalajara international airport every day after school, teaching him how to dribble and when to keep the ball and when to pass it. His father would watch carefully as his son then played out matches with other youngsters – but initially he had his doubts about whether the boy would grow big enough to become a great player. He wondered whether he would have the necessary strength or height to hold his own in a game that appeared to back then be developing worldwide with ever more physically intimidating players. ‘It’s true,’ a source said, ‘His dad knew Javier was good but he just feared he might be knocked about and unable to make an impression because the other players were so much bigger than him when he was a boy. But Javier had a steely determination and would not be deterred. What he lacked in height and weight, he more than made up for in natural talent.’

Javier senior would eventually see that was the case and become more relaxed about his son’s chances of making it big. He explained, ‘I never thought he would actually make it as a professional. We never thought he’d be in the first division. Then little by little he started maturing, and when he was about 15 we saw that change in him.’

Young Javier certainly owed a lot to his dad and his granddad Tomas, who also watched him play regularly at the wasteland next to the airport and for his local youth team in Guadalajara. Tomas would later say, ‘From being very small he was very restless. We used to go to the plot of land in front of the airport and we played little games of football. He used to play with us older folks and he used to slide tackle us and take the ball. We saw he liked football because he was weaned on it since being in the cot.’

Of course, it would be young Javier’s father who would be indirectly responsible for the nickname young Javier would gain as he entered professional circles. Javier Jnr is now commonly referred to as Chicharito, meaning Little Pea, because he is the son of Javier Jnr, who was nicknamed Chicharo (Pea) because of his green eyes.

Javier admits he had a comfortable upbringing in Guadalajara. His family were by no means rich but neither were they poor given that his father and grandfather were former professional footballers. As Tomas would later proudly admit to journalist Tom Marshall, of the Guadalajara Reporter, the role of the family was key to Chicharito’s rise to prominence, just as it had been his, ‘I was born very poor in the old Mexicaltzingo neighbourhood of Guadalajara. We’re very humble people and I got everything I have now through football. Playing enabled me to have things and later get married and then have six kids. All of them have professional titles. The family is very tight, we eat together every day. It makes me very proud.’

Tomas knew that young Javier had the grit and determination needed to make it as a professional footballer; but also that he needed a big break.

That would come early when he joined Club Deportivo Guadalajara – better known by their nickname Chivas (Goats) – at the age of nine. Even before then he had been a ball boy at the club but now he would advance at a rapid pace, playing for the club’s junior side and making it into the senior squad, remarkably signing his first professional contract when he was just 15.

One of his friends and team-mates in the youth team had been Jesus Padilla. Back then, it looked as if Padilla might become the big star. The striker tells how many people at Chivas simply did not think Chicharito was big enough to make it as a major player. ‘You think, OK, here’s this little midget,’ he said. ‘But he’s got some serious hops. He’s amazing in the air.’ As youth players at Chivas for three years, Padilla was the player the coaches believed would go further. Yet his progress stalled and he ended up in America, in Major League Second and also out on loan in the Mexican second division.

Chicharito’s progress also stalled in 2008 when he was 20. Up until then, he had been moving his game forward at a pace – scoring goals at youth level and for the first team. But then he suddenly hit a barren spell – a barren spell he would later admit almost prompted him to quit the game. A deeply religious young man, he started to question whether football was really God’s will for him.

He was intelligent and wondered whether he should instead pursue a career in business (indeed two years later he would be studying Business Management at Universidad del Valle de Atemajac, a private Catholic university not far from Guadalajara). He admits he ‘was very down’ as he contemplated the end of his football career – and decided to seek out the advice that always matters most to him, that of his family. Javier said: ‘I had a lot of questions about whether or not this was the path God wanted me to follow,’ he told Inside United magazine. I wasn’t playing much football, I was being kept in the reserves. I was disappointed younger players were coming through and getting ahead of me, and it really got me down, even away from football. I talked a lot with my parents, my grandparents, my sister and my girlfriend about my situation, and they helped me realise that this is what I was meant to do. I know now that I’m a very lucky guy and I’m glad I made the decision to keep playing. That experience taught me a lot.’

His family didn’t beat about the bush. ‘They told me I had devoted a lot of time to trying to make my dream come true and not to give it up. They said to keep fighting, keep focused and the most important thing was to keep enjoying the game because people all over the world want to be football players.’

It was good advice – certainly without such sound comments it is unlikely Manchester United would ever have heard of Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez. ‘We never thought he’d be in the first division,’ Javier senior added. ‘But little by little he started maturing, and when his goal was to become a professional, we supported him, but it was up to him. Whatever he decided, we were there to help.

Never more so than at that career-defining decision time back in 2008 when Chivas manager, Efraín Flores, kept him anchored on the subs’ bench. ‘He doubted himself; he doubted that he was capable of playing in the first division [in Mexico],’ Javier Snr added. ‘As parents, we told him he had to be patient, but as a young player he was impatient. We talked to him about being persistent and in time everything would come.’

But the family made a point of leaving the final decision to their boy. As granddad Tomas told the Sun, ‘He’s always said, “If football doesn’t work out, I’ll make a living some other way.” No one is holding a gun to his head, saying, “You have to play football.” During that brief time on the sidelines he became discouraged and said, “I’m going to focus on studying. I don’t want to continue playing.”’

The family’s support eventually won the day – and Chicharito repaid them and was seen as a hero in Guadalajara when he went on to then score ten goals in 12 games for Chivas.

Three years later, just before the Champions League final in May 2011, Javier would pay tribute to his family, emphasising that it was their belief that had turned him into the player he now was. ‘My father and grandfather have given me a lot of advice about my game,’ he told the official match programme. ‘They were also attacking players, so they have helped me a great deal. But they have helped me even more off the pitch because that is the most difficult part. With young football players there is a lot of money and other things that can put you off balance.

‘We start at a very young age in this profession. I am only 22. But my family have made sure I have stayed down to earth. I am a person first before a footballer. I don’t feel bigger than anybody, despite any goals, success or medals.’

His time at Chivas was worthwhile; it wasn’t as if he was playing for a team of nobodies supported by nobody. No, they were one of the biggest outfits in Mexican football and, as such, provided an excellent platform where the young Chicharito could learn his game and learn to thrive in a fairly pressurised atmosphere, OK, it wasn’t as if Chivas were Manchester United, but let’s not forget that the club holds a record 11 national titles and many of the best ever Mexican-born footballers have plied their trade there.

This was and remains Mexico’s most popular football club.

In 2011, the club’s flamboyant owner, Jorge Vergara, who became a millionaire through selling vitamins, said as much in an interview with the BBC’s Will Grant in Mexico City. Vergara also made it clear he believed he had played a key role in Chicharito’s personal development! ‘It was me who gave El Chicharito his debut,’ he claimed. ‘The then-coach didn’t want him to debut. It is amazing how some coaches think. So I kind of threatened him and said, “If you don’t want him, I’ll take him to the United States”.’

That was back in 2006 and six years later Vergara still threw his not inconsiderable weight behind Chicharito, making it clear that he loved the boy and that he was his kind of model for how a professional footballer should be. ‘People say it was a steal [Chicharito’s £7million transfer fee to United],’ he added. ‘Well, I did make 25,000 per cent profit on him, so it wasn’t that bad. We want this to become the best team in the world. El Chicharito is an example of what we want to create. We want 11 like him. Not just how he plays, but who he is, the principles he works by and what he believes.’

So Chicharito’s time with Chivas had been one of ups and downs – at times he was brilliant, at others left out of the team as his confidence waned. In his first full season as a professional (the 2005/06 season) the club told him he would have to ‘learn his trade’ in their reserve team, Chivas Coras, who were still good enough to play in the Mexican Second Division.

Javier made his debut for the Chivas first team the next season (2006) – and scored! In true Roy of the Rovers style, he had come on as a late sub (with just eight minutes to go) as Chivas were sauntering to a 3-0 win over Necaxa at Estadio Jalisco.

Within five minutes of entering the fray, Javier had made it 4-0. But he would not find the net in six further appearances during the campaign.

In the 2007 season he made another ten appearances but could not find the net. It would prove to be the prelude to that low period in his life when he questioned whether he should give up the game. By the time of his self doubt he had scored just one goal in almost two years. It was little wonder that he was down and wondering whether he had lost his goal touch for good. What he really needed was a coach who would throw his arm around him – like Fergie – and tell him it was just a phase and that everything would be OK. That didn’t happen and he was left soul searching and depressed.

But, with the help of his loyal, ever encouraging family, he carried on – and came good. Really good.

In the 2008 campaign Javier went on to find the net four times in 15 league matches. But it was the following season that he really started to attract the attention of the scouts from other countries. In the 2009 campaign he ended the league season as joint-third top scorer, with 11 goals in 17 games.

His last season with Chivas – up to the summer of 2010 – saw him flying in the top-flight in Mexico. Javier ended up as joint top scorer in the 2010 Torneo Bicentenario, with ten goals in eleven games alongside Johan Fano of Atlante and Herculez Gomez of Puebla. And that feat could have been even more spectacular as he spent five matches on the sidelines injured!

Earlier in the season, the pundits had been united in their praise of the Little Pea, who was becoming a big shot in his homeland. Fifa headed those handing out the plaudits, declaring, ‘Guadalajara’s start to the 2010 Bicentenario season in Mexico has been nothing short of sensational: seven wins in seven games, with 17 goals scored (more than any other side in the land), and only six conceded (a record bettered only by Monarcas Morelia). Leaders by five points from defending champions Monterrey, Chivas also have the country’s top scorer in their ranks, Javier Hernandez, who has hit eight goals in six games so far this season.

‘It comes as no surprise to learn, then, that Los Rojiblancos’s flying start is a record-breaking one. With last week’s 3-2 win over Puebla they set a new mark for the best ever start in the history of Mexican professional football…The free-scoring Hernandez has been the star of the show so far. Nicknamed El Chicharito (the Little Pea), the 21-year-old took his tally to eight goals in five games when he struck in the 2-0 win over Atlante, victory number five of the season. His scoring surge was then halted by injury on the eve of the game at Pachuca.’

The climax to the season would see Guadalajara overhauled at the top of the table by Monterrey, who claimed their third title. They finished four points clear of Javier and his team-mates. Of course, he was disappointed not to have lifted the league crown in his final season in Mexico.

But there were consolations on the horizon – a move to Manchester United and the imminent World Cup in South Africa, where he was a shoo-in for a place in his home nation’s squad. United had actually been keeping an eye on him for a good six months before they made their move. Boss Ferguson had insisted the deal be shrouded in secrecy to stop other potential suitors sniffing around. ‘We knew for two months but my father and I were told we couldn’t tell the family, our friends or anyone else,’ Javier would later say. ‘It was hard. We are a big family, we are all very close, and we always want to talk about what is going on with each other. But we kept to their wishes. We told nobody.’

The deal was set up with only close family let in on the secret – his mother, Sopapilla, and his sister, Ana – and even his granddad Tomas was kept out of the frame. ‘The rest of us were told they were going to Atlanta,’ Tomas would later reveal when Javier and his father concluded the deal and then watched United battle it out against Bayern Munich in an executive box at Old Trafford.

It would prove a bittersweet night for Chicharito. Here he was, in Manchester, having rubber-stamped the move he had always dreamed of – and his new team went and blew it. Despite winning 3-2 against the Germans on the night, they would crash out of the Champions League on the away goals rule after a 4-4 aggregate result.

But it was only a blip on Javier’s journey to United and eventual superstardom – although he would continue to be the level-headed, humble, totally likeable human being he had always been. Even when his signing became public knowledge and he started for Mexico in the World Cup. ‘A year ago, he didn’t really exist for anybody,’ his agent, Eduardo Hernandez, would admit. ‘Now, everybody wants him – sponsors, media, fans. He’s got a very busy agenda.’

Nestor de la Torre, the director of Mexico’s national teams, then made the point that it wouldn’t change Javier one iota. ‘We’re talking about a player that is very down to earth, very simple,’ De la Torre stressed. ‘He’s always been a player with the qualities on and off the field to be a Mexican soccer star.’

And now he was about to become a superstar with the biggest football club on the planet. When United announced his £7 million signing, their club website received 50,000 new registrations from Mexico within 24 hours. And a new consignment of shirts at the club’s Old Trafford megastore bearing the legend ‘Chicharito’ sold out in two days…when it had been anticipated they would last two weeks.

And what was Javier’s reaction to all the mayhem and adoration coming his way? He remained the same boy he had always been, starstruck that he was going to be performing on the biggest stage and summing up his feelings as he said, ‘Suddenly I’m going to be playing with the players I know from PlayStation and television. I’m living in a dream.’