Gold Cup: Day 9 (End of Canada)

So on Tuesday night there were two games in the Gold Cup but I trust that most of my readers watched the Canadian game.  With that in mind I am not overly going to discuss the events of the game but will instead focus on my feelings and reaction to the game, and Canada's Gold Cup effort as a whole.

The short version is that Canada needs to be better then they were the last three games.  The team that we saw against Ecuador showed potential and showed the ability to get forward but the team that showed up the last 3 matches looked completely unthreatening and at times they seemed lost for what they were doing.  The 4-5-1 seemed to me to be the root cause of the problems because when Hart was forced to make changes, mainly not playing Jackson alone up top, things picked up a bit.  It is actually a bad thing that Canada was at its very best in the second half of the US game because Ali Gerba was brought on.  If we are counting on Ali Gerba, still, to score goals then this world cup qualifying campaign is going to be a tough one.

The fact is that Canada played 3 matches in the Gold Cup and the only time that they scored was from 2 soft penalties.  They created very little from open play and maybe it was the game plan, or Atiba Hutchinson missing two matches, or maybe it is that Canada continues to lack a constant scoring threat from the striker position.  The teams leading scorer on the current roster is Dwayne De Rosario, with 15 goals, and he so often gets lost in games going long stretches without making any impact.  There is no one on this current team that you can count on to score with any regularity.  We have some decent midfielders, good enough to compete with out teams in CONCACAF I would say but the other areas need to be improved.  I have high hopes for Jackson but the truth is that he has a lot to learn and the system in place under Stephen Hart is not the right fit for him.  If you watch how Norwich use him, which works well, you can see how he is capable of being an effective attacker but for Canada he was often isolated and out matched by larger defenders.  Rob Friend and Ali Gerba on the other hand I do not have any confidence in at all.  I hear Friend can be good but have limited exposure to him for his club but again he is poorly used in Hart's tactics.  There is also Ricketts but I am going to reserve judgement on him since I have seen almost nothing of him and his few appearances for Canada have seemed decent but not enough to get a true sense.

The other issue that Canada faces is they lack that killer confidence.  They go into games against the USA overwhelmed and play like they are afraid of getting beaten and then when they do get scored on they struggle to find an answer.  Then even when we get ahead like we were against Panama there is this sense that the team are not strong enough to know how to hold on to that lead.  The best teams know that the easiest way to hold a lead is to push back against the team rather then just packing it in where you are basically just waiting for the other team to create chances and potentially score.  The goal that Canada conceded was quite unlucky but it was nothing less then Panama deserved as they had been taking the game to Canada for some time.  Would of course not have been an issue if Canada had converted some chances in the first half.  Now Canada has an average back line at best so that is never going to help and by the end of this Gold Cup they didn't have 4 players fit to play in their natural positions in the back line which is not going to help but maybe Hart should have brought another defender along for the tournament rather then someone like Pacheco just to pick a name.

The other area of the team that I was most concerned about going into this Gold Cup was in goal.  Hirschfeld has had a couple of great performances for Canada in the past but is not consistent enough to rely on in hopefully a long qualification run.  I was though pleased with what I saw from Milan Borjan.  He displayed good positioning, good judgement, and the ability to stop shots.  You can still tell that he has not been around top clubs and can use a fair bit of refinement but he has the potential and I was pleasantly surprised by that.

So Canada is now out of the Gold Cup and the next stop for the Men's National Team is World Cup qualifiers this fall.  The draw will almost certainly hand us something easy in the opening round of play but my fear is that we will win that without making the needed changes.  For me Hart needs to prove that he can get away from always using the 4-5-1 and have some tactical flexibility.  He needs to change something and get the team to the point where it is scoring goals from open play against the Panama's and Guadeloupe's of the world.  It is alright to be kept off the score sheet when you are up against a keeper like Tim Howard, who is class, but against other teams we need to find a way to manufacture goals.  I can not sit here and offer a solution, if I could I would be coaching at a high level, but I can say that in my opinion if Hart does not show the willingness and ability to mix it up this fall then it should cost him his job.  We should be winning these early qualifying games no matter what, that is not good enough though.  Canada needs to be using these games to get much better.  We have to be in the top 8 teams and CONCACAF and I would like to see us go far in qualifiers, even if the World Cup is still a distant dream, but based on the Gold Cup performance we have a long way to go to prove that we are right with the second tier of teams in the region.

The American team also played last night and to be fair they were terrible.  They have been poor all the way through the group stage and seem to be a long way from hitting their stride.  For me, and I have heard a few others saying this, they have only made it out of the group stage because of their natural talent and having some of the best players in the tournament.  If you look at how Mexico has preformed and look at the States then they have a lot of work to do if they want to overcome Mexico at some point and potentially win this thing.  Clint Dempsey was at the centre of the Americans bad play in the group stage as he seemed to just not be sharp at all and wasted chance after chance after chance with him being at his worst last night.  Dempsey should have had a hat trick and put the game beyond a doubt for the US but instead he got nothing.  Canada may be the team going home but the Americans have underachieved just as much and could be joining Canada in the coming days.


So with no more Gold Cup for Canada what do you have to look forward to?  Well Canada is about to enter in to two more competitions in including the U-17's and then the Women's World Cup later this month.  Personally I am very excited for the WWC and think that Canada are a team that can turn some heads.
I will try to cover that tournament and preview it in the coming weeks as well as continuing with some Gold Cup coverage and TFC coverage.  Going to be a great summer for soccer in this country!

The Canadian Conundrum

What I am going to attempt to do in this post is lay out the possible outcomes for Group C in the simplest and most straightforward way that I can which will likely result in everyone be confused and in that case the best thing to do is hope that Canada wins tonight as that will be enough to advance no matter what, got that down?  Good cause now we can get into the fun that such a stupid tournament format can create.  This whole best 2 third place teams moving on concept is just useless and for the first time in my life I found myself agreeing with a City fan last night while I was listening to Duane Rollins thoughts on the dumb format on last nights edition of Itscalledfootball (check out the podcast for some good stuff!)

So lets get down to the match and set out a couple of scenarios:

1.  If Canada wins the game, regardless of the margin, they advance but could finish anywhere from 1st to 3rd

2. If Canada losses, regardless of the margin, they are going home

3.  If Canada draws the game then they need to hope that the US losses their game against Guadeloupe

So that is the very basic outline of what can happen.  The scenarios get a lot more complex if you try to include all of the different outcomes from both of tonights games.  For example if Canada were to win by 4 or more then they would be able to claim top spot in the group and if they want a shot at second in the group then Canada needs to at least win by 2 so that they can go above Panama based on head to head.  I am not in the mood to hurt my brain trying to lay it all out for you when Duane of The 24th Minute has already done such a good job over here: http://www.canadiansoccernews.com/content.php?1831-Group-C-breakdown

The other thing that is worth knowing is that if Canada wins the game by less than 2 then they are heading to a quarterfinals date with Mexico.  So if you are hoping for Canada to avoid Mexico then a 2 goal win is the magic number.  To do that Canada is going to need a great effort as they are likely going to have to overcome a depleted back line, with only 3 out and out defenders left fit on the team, and likely the absence of Atiba Hutchinson for the second straight match as reports are suggesting that his club PSV are suggesting that it would be wise for Hart not to play him tonight.  If PSV really are saying that then we won't be seeing Atiba tonight since Hart will want to be careful not to burn bridges with them before World Cup qualifying begins as Hutchinson will be a key part of any success that Canada is going to have.

Gold Cup: Day 8

So last night was finally the second last day of group stages.  Group B was set to come to an end with Guatemala taking on Grenada and Jamaica against Honduras.  For the games taking place at Red Bull Arena the stakes were pretty simple.  In the first match Guatemala needed to win by 3 goals to ensure that they would go through as a best placed third team (or even get second in the group) and if Grenada wanted to advance they were going to need to win by a landslide and then get a lot of help from group C results, so basically Grenada were done already.  In the second game of the night both teams were already through to the next round, barring a very lopsided win by Jamaica, so it was basically a battle for top spot as Jamaica would go through in first with either a win or a draw.

The night kicked off with Guatemala taking on Grenada and this match raised the interesting question of which team is worse, Grenada or Cuba?  They were the first two teams sent packing from the tournament and lets be honest they never even came close to taking a point in this thing.  In this one Grenada looked completely outclassed and their defence seemed incapable of slowing down the attack.  As a result Guatemala got goals in the 15th and 21st minutes and despite leading 2-0 at the break they really should have been up by a few more goals.  The good news for Guatemala was that with a 2-0 lead their goal difference was up to 0 and that had them even with El Salvador and they would have known that one more in the second half would almost certainly see them advance.  They got that goal in the 53rd minute from Carlos Ruiz, who finally got on the score sheet, and then for good measure they ensured their progress with a fourth goal this time from Carlos Gallardo.

With a 4-0 win in the bag Guatemala had ensured that they would be in the next phase of the competition.  They have 4 points but their +2 goal difference is better then El Salvador's goal difference of 0 and that means that regardless of the results in the last 3 games the worst they could end up is as the 8th team to get through.  For Grenada the loss just further illustrated that the team that they brought here was just not up to par.  Like Cuba they struggled to score goals and were conceding them at an alarming rate.  I guess Grenada can be proud that they did not finish last overall since they conceded one less goal then Cuba did and had one less player defect.  On a completely unrelated note I would like to urge Grenada to start paying their coach enough that he can afford to get a suit and tie.  He looked terrible in that track jacket, cheap ball cap, and purple piny.  At least if you are going to get destroyed in three straight games you can try and look like you are somewhat professional.

The second game of the night was a real letdown to me.  I was expecting to see Jamaica and Honduras battling it out with top spot on the line but instead with both teams having already sealed their progress they seemed to already be thinking about the quarterfinals and not to interested in trying all that hard in this game.  Jamaica did have a fair bit more life to them then Honduras to be fair and they were the better team in the first half creating a couple of chances and forcing a couple of good saves out of Valladares.  Jamaica would get the only breakthrough of the match in the 35th minute when Ryan Johnson fired a shot in from 20 some yards out that smashed off the crossbar but he got a bit of luck as the ball rebounded off of Valladares' back and into the net.  Johnson's strike was worthy of a goal but the Honduran keeper was a bit unfortunate to be charged with the own goal on that one.  Honduras got a bit more into the game in the second half but the only major moment was a decision to hand Jamaica a penalty.  The call was the correct one but the excitement came from the fact that Valladares got a bit of revenge on Ryan Johnson by doing really well to get down and turn his spot kick away.

In the end the game wound up 1-0 and though it was lacking some of the spark and the goals that I was expecting from these two teams it was probably a fair result.  The result means that Jamaica goes through Group B in first place having collected 9 points.  Honduras will go through in second having collected the same 4 points as Guatemala but their goal difference of +5 is enough.

I will be back later on with another blog setting out the task that faces Canada as they look to advance from group C and also what they are going to need to happen if they are going to be able to avoid a quarterfinal date with highflying Mexico.

Gold Cup: Day 7

The 7th round of action in the Gold Cup saw group A come to its conclusion.  So far the story in group A has been the Mexican team with its failed drug tests and high flying attack but the other teams in the group have also been proving that they know how to score a few goals of their own setting up an exciting last round of action in Chicago.

The evening opened with El Salvador taking on Cuba.  Coming in to the match both teams were basically in need of a big win to even have a chance of moving on into a place in the quarterfinals but even a massive win would likely have not been enough for Cuba who were yet to pick up a single point.  Apparently someone did tell El Salvador that with only 1 point from their first two matches they needed to crush Cuba because they came out flying and went straight to work on trying to repair their goal difference from the damage that Mexico had done to it.  El Salvador opened the scoring only 11 minutes in when Zelaya was on the spot to score his first of the game and second of the tournament.  His goal would be followed up by another from Romero on the 28th minute that saw El Salvador take a 2-0 lead into the break.  If that score line had held until the end of the match both teams would likely have been going home without help from the other groups as El Salvador were still sitting on a -3 goal difference.

The second half was a real cracker though as El Salvador again went straight on to the offensive.  Blanco scored in the 69th minute, Zelaya added his third of the tournament in the 70th but just when the route seemed to be on Cuba put a dent in their hopes.  Cuba were certainly going home at this point but that did not stop them from pulling one back in the 82nd minute through Marquez.  The Cuban rally, if you can even call it that, did not last long though as only a minute later El Salvador restored their 4 goal lead through Hernandez and then a 90th minute goal from Quintanilla was just enough to bring their goal difference back to 0.  With El Salvador sitting on 4 points and a goal difference of 0 they look to be in decent shape to have a hope of advancing but for Cuba the 6-1 defeat was the end of a rough tournament.  The Cuban team only managed to score that 1 goal while conceding 16 on route to 3 straight loses.  Hopefully it was at least a learning experience for the team and they have done well with apparently only one player defecting so far!

The second game of the night saw Mexico taking on Costa Rica with top spot in the group on the line.  A win or a draw would have seen Mexico finish in first place but only a win would do the trick for Costa Rica.  Costa Rica also knew that with El Salvador winning by 5 they needed to ensure that they did not get destroyed by Mexico to avoid falling down in to third place.  It all set up for an exciting match but in the end it was more about Costa Rica struggling to hold on to second place then a battle for the top spot.  Mexico reversed their normal trend and came out scoring in the first half, instead of waiting for the second half like they have of late.  Mexico opened the scoring 16 minutes in through Rafael Marquez and when Guardado added goals in the 19th and 25th minutes it looked like the route was once again on.  Before the end of the half Mexico would make it 4-0 through Pablo Barrera.  It looked like they were a sure thing to go through from the group on top and really just had to coast through the second half.  For Costa Rica though they now found themselves ahead of El Salvador by only 1 on the goal difference. 

Costa Rica came out a lot better in the second half, either that of Mexico came out a lot worse with nothing left to play for.  They seemed fully intent on making sure that Mexico did not expand their lead at all and they were battling for that second place finish in the group.  In the 68th minute all of that hard work was rewarded when Marcos Urena scored a goal that gave them a 2 goal cushion again despite being down 4-1 in the match.  Both teams seemed to be fairly content with this scoreline and the match sort of fizzled out down the stretch as it was clear that Mexico would be winning the group and Costa Rica had done enough to hang on to second place.  For the first time in the Gold Cup Chicharito did not steal the show as he was held off the score sheet before being substituted.

So we have one group all figured out and we know that Mexico and Costa Rica will be through to the next round for sure but El Salvador are going to have to wait and see how the next two days of results go before they know if they are going to be in the quarterfinals.  Cuba on the other hand are going home for sure.  Group A sure did provide us with a lot of goals as they combined to score an massive 29 goals despite Cuba only chipping in with 1.

Gold Cup: Day 6 (Canada's back!)

The 6th round of play in the 2011 Gold Cup saw group C get back in to the action.  That means that Canada was taking to the field for their second match and this time they were down in Tampa to take on Guadeloupe.  The second game of the nights would see Panama and the United States battling for control over the group. 

Coming into this game I heard a lot of Canadian fans feeling like this should be an easy win for the team because Guadeloupe are an unranked nation but that ignores the fact that most of their players are professionals in the French League system with a fair few of them playing for good teams in the Ligue 2.  With that said they were not a team that Canada would be able to get away with taking lightly which they proved by making Panama work so hard to win in the first round despite having gone down to 9 men.  The second game was no different as Canada were going to have to work for everything despite Guadeloupe again going down a man.  This time the sending off game in the 4th minute when Will Johnson was hit by a two footed tackle from Jean-Luc Lambourde.  It may not have been the worst tackle I have ever seen but I have also seen red cards being given out for less and Guadeloupe cant really feel that hard done by this one.  So Canada were taking on 10 men for basically the entire game now and they must certainly have been the clear favorites, right?

The first chance of note in the game would go the way of Guadeloupe as Borjan was forced to get down to his right quickly and did well to turn aside the low shot.  Before the first half was over Canadian striker Ali Gerba got what was clearly the best chance of the half as he found himself unmarked in the box but when he hit the cross first time he was unable to get it on target.  The first half would end without much else happening and the sending off was the only real talking point.

The second half began with Guadeloupe creating the first chance as once again Borjan was forced to get down quick to make a save right by his post.  Borjan continued his solid play tracking down crosses and making easy work of any shots that did come his way making Hart look like a genius for deciding to start him in this match.  Canada generated a half chance a few minutes later with a speculative shot from range by De Rosario but on the 50th minute De Rosario sent a cross into the box that was aimed towards Ali Gerba but Gerba went down under contact from the defender and the referee awarded Canada a penalty.  De Ro would step up to the spot and after sending the keeper the wrong way he slotted home the opening goal of the game.  The penalty was by no means cut and dry and when I said that Gerba went down under contact it really was slight contact and he went down rather easily as he had no chance of getting to the ball.  The decision is one that Canada have often been on the other end of and it has often angered Canadian fans to see teams going down so softly against us so it is no surprise that the reaction to this has been rather mixed even among Canadian fans.  Gerba going down softly does raise the question though of whether this is the kind of thing Canada needs to do if they want to gain an edge against their opponents in the Gold Cup and later in World Cup qualifying.  I personally do not like the idea of our players diving but if you are under contact and start to fall why not go down and just see what happens.  No point busting your butt to state on your feet when at the other end of the field the opposing team might just go down and win the game as a result.

The game would continue on with both teams looking to create chances but to be honest there was a real lack of offensive talent on display in this one.  The best chances the rest of the game came from long range efforts which were all turned away by the keepers.  In the end it was that penalty decision that proved to be the difference as Canada escaped with a 1-0 win.  For Canada I am sure they would have liked to score a couple more goals to try and improve the goal difference and their chances of finishing higher up after the group stage ends.  For Guadeloupe on the other hand they will feel that once again the ref has cost them a chance to win the game with that sending off and then the penalty decision.  Things will not get any easier for Guadeloupe though as they finish off the group against the United States and they will need to not only win the match but will need to win it by a comfortable margin.  That basically means that come the last match day Guadeloupe will be only playing for pride.  Canada on the other hand will have everything to play for when they round off their group schedule against Panama in a match where a positive result could see them finish anywhere from 1st to 3rd in group C.

The second game of the evening in the group was another exciting one and surely left a lot of fans scratching their hands.  Panama was taking on the United States and with the US being one of the favorites for this Gold Cup you would have expected them to have a fairly easy time disposing of Panama.  The match was nothing like that though as Panama came out flying and really took it to the US.  Throughout the first half the Americans were kept on the back heel an Panama's hard work was rewarded in 18th minute when Luis Tejada scored to give them a lead that surprised all of the American fans watching the match in Tampa.  Things only got worse for the Americans though as defender Tim Ream brought down Perez in the box handing Panama a penalty in the 35th minute.  The spot kick was converted by Gabriel Gomez to give Panama a shock 2-0 lead which they would hold until the half.

The Americans would fight back in the second half but Panama put up a solid resistance.  Panama would manage to hold back the powerful attack until the 67th minute when Clarence Goodson scored to give the States hope.  In the end though they were unable to find the second goal that they needed to salvage any sort of result.  Panama's early onslaught combined with resolute defending and some strong keeping from Cano were enough to hand them their second win in the group.

So with 2 rounds in the book now Panama find themselves sitting on top of the group with 6 points and if they get a result against Canada on the last day they will be going through in first place.  The Americans will be looking to extract some revenge for this loss on Guadeloupe in their final match as they need a comfortable win to try and finish as high up the group as they can.  A win could see them finish 1st or 2nd.  There really is almost everything to play for on the final match day in this group and teams will be fighting hard for better positions to ensure they get the easier quarter finals.

Gold Cup: Day 5

So I have gotten a little bit behind on my Gold Cup reports but this morning I am going to power through them all and get to previewing what challenge Canada is going to face if they want to get through to the next round.  So lets get down to it then!

Day 5 of Gold cup action saw Jamaica take on Guatemala and Grenada take on Honduras at FIU Stadium in Miami.  The night kicked off with Jamaica looking to claim a second win which would basically assure them of a place in the next round of play while Guatemala were looking to build on their surprise draw from the opening round of play.  The first half of the game did not have all that many talking points with Jamaica holding a slight edge in the run of play but the best chances of the half for both teams went to waste as no one seemed interested in getting their shots on target.

This started to pick up in the second half of the game and Jamaica almost opened the scoring thanks to an impressive run through the defense by Jason Morrison but the Guatemalan keeper Jerez came out well and managed to stop the shot with his legs.  Minutes later another good run through the middle of the field by Jamaica forced a second good save as it appeared that Jamaica had taken the initiative in the second half.  It took until the 65th minute for Jamaica to finally get the breakthrough they were looking for as Demar Phillips slid a shot in off the far post from a very tight angle.  The keeper almost got enough of his toe on the ball to turn it wide but in the end Jamaica took a 1-0 lead.  The talking points would not end there but instead the goal seemed to ignite the game.  On 70 minutes the referee was sadly fooled by a flop from the Jamaican attacker who was looking to win a free kick against the last man back.  The referee bought his very soft fall and ended up sending off Cristian Noriega with a second yellow card.  The diving of Jamaica had seen Guatemala reduced to 10 men and from then on it looked like there was only going to be one winner.  Jamaica began to push forward even harder and on 78 minutes Demar Phillips was in the middle of the box to tuck in his second goal of the game which was enough to see Jamaica cruise to a win.  Their 6 points from 3 matches have them top of the group now and in position to advance.  For Guatemala though things are not looking as good with only 1 point from their opening two matches.  If they want to make it out of this group then they are going to need to be Grenada in the third round of play.

Speaking of Grenada, they took to the field in the second game of the night to play Honduras.  Grenada came in to this one with a single Gold Cup goal to their name and found themselves with the unenviable task trying to slow down a Honduran team who were sure to be frustrated after their opening match ended in a draw.  The match could not have started better for Grenada though as they finally ended their goalless drought in this competition with Clive Murray hitting the crossbar but then following up on his rebound to slot home his teams first.  Sadly though if you love Grenada or like me just enjoy cheering for the underdog it was all downhill from there.  Honduras would respond with 2 goals in the 27th minute and another in the 36th.  By the time that halftime arrived I had almost forgotten that Grenada had been in the lead and had started so brightly. 

The second half was all Honduras as they would build on their 3-1 advantage with Carlos Costly scoring in the 66th and 71st minutes to round of his hat trick having scored one in the first half.  Escobar and Ramos would both come off the bench to get involved in the scoring and help to round off a dominant 7-1 win.  Grenada put up such a good fight for close to half and hour but once Honduras got rolling it was clear that they did not have an power to slow them down.  The Honduran onslaught is not only bad news for Grenada but also for the rest of the teams in the Gold Cup since if this signals a turnaround for the team they will be much more of a force as the rounds move on.  The defeat all but seals Grenada's fate as they have no points and a -10 goal difference so unless they destroy Guatemala in the final game they will be going home.  For Honduras though the final match day will be a big one as it will determine who is going to come out of group B in first place.  A Honduran win sees them take first place in the group but any result for Jamaica sees them go through in first.

Growth of a Legend

Since the announcement of his transfer from Chivas to Manchester United last spring, striker Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez has caused quite a stir on the World's football scene. The little known Mexican seemed like an odd signing for Sir Alex Ferguson when it was announced but a year into his Manchester United career the deal looks like one of the greatest deals of all time. Chicharito has shown a goal scoring instinct that rivals some of the greatest goal scorers of all time including recently retired Ronaldo. His 20 goals scored for United in his first season in European football was a tremendous return for the 6 million pounds spent on him. Hernandez is know showing his tremendous finishing ability at the Gold Cup where has has scored 5 goals in 2 matches.

Javier Hernandez was born June 1, 1988 in Guadalajara, Mexico. His father, Javier Hernandez, was a well known Mexican striker as well who played in the 1986 World Cup for Mexico. Javier Sr. was nicknamed "Chicharo" meaning "pea" because of his green eyes and when he was young people started calling Javier Jr. "Chicharito" meaning "little pea" because he was the of "Chicharo."

Chicharito made his professional debut for home town team Chivas de Guadalajara when he was a teenager and quickly became a fan favorite. Hernandez scored his first professional goal in his debut with Chivaz in 2006. This terrific start was followed by a long period of hard ship. He did not score another the rest of the 2006 season and the goal draught continued for two whole seasons. The long draught which limited his playing time with Chivas finally ended in 2009 when he scored 4 goals during the season. In recent interviews, Hernandez has revealed that during this period football was no longer fun for him and he seriously considered retiring from his playing career. It was only with the support of his family that he continued and it is now paying dividends.

The "Little Pea" soon started to rack up the goals in front of his home town crowd, leading the team in scoring for two seasons where he notched up the majority of his 29 goals he scored while making 79 appearances for Chivas de Guadalajara. It was also during this time that Manchester United caught wind of the player and his potential.

Reportedly United had planned to wait to make a move for the talented, young Mexican striker in order to give him more first team experience in Mexico because of his young age but with his planned involvement in the Mexican World Cup team in South Africa they moved quickly before he was on show on the World stage. On April 28, 2010, a deal to bring Javier Hernandez to Manchester was completed in complete secrecy for a reported 6 million pound fee and a friendly with Chivas to open their new stadium. United had done their homework on the little known Chicharito who soon started to make a name for himself.

Hernandez has made his full international debut for Mexico on September 30, 2009 against Colombia. In the lead up to the 2010 World Cup, he made a further 5 appearances for Mexico scoring 6 goals. His superb play continued into the World Cup in South Africa where he scored 2 goals in 4 appearances with well taken finishes against France and Argentina. The striker known as the "Little Pea" had made himself known to the world.

In the fall of 2010, Javier Hernandez made his debut for Manchester United in the Community Shield against Chelsea. It was a scoring debut for Hernandez once again with a goal that did not do justice for his finishing abilities as he kicked the ball off his face before it rolled into the open net. Chicharito quickly found his way into the heart of United faithful becoming a fan favorite with a number of key goals.

United's newest striker went on to score an outstanding 20 goals for the first team in 45 appearances, including 4 in the season's Champions League campaign. Javier Hernandez was the first player since Ruud van Nistelrooy to score 20 goals in a debut season for the Red Devils. Hernandez top off his outstanding first season with Manchester United by being awarded the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award by the fans.

All through his first season in England, Hernandez was drawing comparisons with a United legend. Many people compared the Mexican to Ole Gunnar Solksjaer because of his speed, strength in the air, and ability to use both his feet. Now Red Devil fans will hope that Chicharito will have his own moment similar to Solksjaer's Champions League stoppage time winner to eternally engrave him in the annals of the Manchester United, the biggest club in the World.

As a member of the Mexican 2011 Gold Cup team, Javier Hernandez is once again showing off his qualities. In just two appearances so far this tournament, the quick striker leads the tournament with 5 goals for a Mexican team that has run rampant over their opponents.

Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez has had a fantastic season that very few ever achieve for both club and country. It is hard to image that only one year ago he was only known to football fans in his home country of Mexico, but after one season he has proved himself to be a world class player. Chicharito has stated that he has debt to pay to Sir Alex Ferguson for showing faith in him. With that attitude and the work ethic that comes with it and his natural talent, Hernandez is on a path to become one of the greatest goal scorers the world has ever seen.