Every time Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez appears there are murmurs all around. He is the only Mexican player that the locals in Santos immediately recognise. He is the principal focus for the international media.
Hernandez represents one of the most striking paradoxes of the build-up to the World Cup: despite his media presence, the biggest idol of the Mexican team will probably be a substitute on Friday against Cameroon.
“Never in my career have I been completely sure of my place. I have always had to work 100 per cent to take advantage of the moment, whether that comes in the first minute or the 90th,” said the Manchester United striker a few days ago.
The social impact that Hernandez has made in Santos in the last three days contrasts starkly with the planning of Mexico’s head coach Miguel Herrera.
The 26-year-old striker is the only player who has to stop to attend to the fans every day outside the Parque Balneario hotel.
Meanwhile, the media are building up the figure of Hernandez every single day. Sunday saw him labelled the ‘Mexican Neymar’ by the Brazilian press, and some journalists even treated him as if he were the team captain.
However, for the time being, coach Herrera seems to have more confidence in Oribe Peralta and in Giovani dos Santos, who has just enjoyed the best season of his career whilst playing in Spain for Villarreal.
