Tag: Chicharito

Chicharito scores first Chivas goal in 14 years

The veteran striker opened the scoring in a 3-2 win over Puebla

Javier “Chicharito” Hernández scored his first goal in 14 years for Chivas on Saturday night, helping his boyhood club to a 3-2 win over Puebla.

The veteran striker signed with Chivas as a free agent ahead of the Clausura campaign, returning to the Guadalajara club after departing in 2010 to sign with Manchester United.

From there, Chicharito had a distinguished European career before spending four seasons in MLS with the LA Galaxy.

The 35-year-old started the Clausura slowly as he continued to recover from a torn ACL suffered with the Galaxy last season. After missing the first two months of the season, Chicharito has slowly incorporated into the Chivas setup.

In the 34th minute of Saturday’s game, Chicharito latched onto Roberto Alvarado’s 34th-minute pass before taking one touch with his right foot and finishing with his left.

The last goal Chicharito scored for Chivas? That would be on March 27, 2010.

Watch Chicharito score vs. Puebla

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From bad to worse for LA Galaxy: Chicharito out for season with torn ACL

The 35-year-old may have played his final Galaxy match

An already rough LA Galaxy season just got a lot rougher.

The Galaxy announced on Friday that star forward Javier “Chicharito” Hernández tore the ACL in his right knee during Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup loss at Real Salt Lake.

Midway through the first half, the Mexican striker went down with a non-contact injury and had to be removed from the game immediately. The Galaxy would go on to lose 3-2 and be eliminated from the Open Cup at the quarterfinal stage.

“The LA Galaxy today announced that forward Javier “Chicharito” Hernández sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee during the club’s 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal match against Real Salt Lake on June 7,” a club release said. “Hernández will undergo surgery on a date to be determined to begin the rehabilitation process.”

The news is a blow for a Galaxy team that is already sitting in last place in the Western Conference, collecting just 12 points from its first 15 league games.

The team’s poor start has already cost president Chris Klein his job, with head coach Greg Vanney under major pressure as well.

For Chicharito, the injury is a major setback from a personal standpoint as well. Having just turned 35 and with his contract expiring at the end of the season, the striker faces an uncertain future.

Chicharito has scored 38 goals in 74 league matches since making his Galaxy debut in 2020.

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Messi, Beckham and the 10 biggest signings in MLS history

Messi is atop a long list of huge names to come to MLS

Lionel Messi is coming to MLS, and is instantly the league’s biggest-ever signing.

MLS history is littered with big global names, icons at the world’s biggest clubs, as well as lower-profile signings that changed the landscape of the league in ways over the years and even decades to follow their arrival.

Still, not even David Beckham — who is part-owner of Inter Miami, the club that Messi will be suiting up for in the near future — can match the global phenomenon that is Messi. The Argentina superstar, fresh off winning the 2022 World Cup, will transform the entire league, with commissioner Don Garber going so far as to say Messi could be the biggest athlete in U.S. sporting history. The stakes are that high.

It’s not like Messi is the first huge signing for MLS, though. Here are the top 10 additions to the league in its 28-year history.

Chicharito is sick of his Galaxy teammates not facing the media

After fans voiced their discontent, the striker could only say “they’re right”

After another dismal defeat for the LA Galaxy, Javier “Chicharito” Hernández hit out at teammates who weren’t doing what he was doing at the time: facing the press.

The Galaxy fell 3-1 at home to the Colorado Rapids on Saturday night, dropping their record to 1W-6L-3D as they sit 13th out of 14 teams in the MLS Western Conference.

Chicharito was at the podium after the match at Dignity Health Sports Park and he didn’t hold back his opinion that one of his teammates should have been there instead.

“We need so many things to change starting from, I believe that more people need to come [speak to the media] to face things,” the Mexican forward said. “We’re the same people speaking, always. That’s a thing that needs to change too, you know? We always speak in here, the same guys. So I think that should change in the beginning, and then on the training ground other stuff needs to change.”

One of the league’s most storied franchises is in the midst of one of their worst ever runs, with fan protests rampant in 2023. After another subpar performance on home ground saw his side greeted with more fan anger, Chicharito could only say that he agreed with their point of view.

“We’re LA Galaxy, man. When I say we need to behave and understand that – they’re giving you the chance to be the greatest,” Hernandez said. “You’re in the greatest f—ing organization in the USA. At the least, you give everything. And if teams are better than us, I can take that, I can take those losses. I can take that.

“When El Tráfico happened we were way better. We beat ourselves. We were the better team and we lost. I take those ones. These ones, at home? Against a [conference] rival? Man, no. Not good enough. Not good enough. And yeah, the fans were right this time. They’re right.”

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The LA Galaxy would prefer Chicharito not offer injury updates on Twitch

The Galaxy striker got out ahead of his club in offering a timeline on his hamstring injury

LA Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney couldn’t contain his annoyance after star forward Javier “Chicharito” Hernández spilled the beans on his injury status during a live stream on Twitch.

The Mexican forward has been suffering from a hamstring injury and declared himself unavailable for Saturday’s game against FC Dallas.

“Am I going to play in Dallas? No, I’m still recovering from my injury. I’m going to be between two to five more weeks out because we have to be very careful with the recovery to avoid relapses,” Chicharito said.

At a press conference ahead of the game in Texas, Vanney admitted that Chicharito’s report on Twitch wasn’t exactly the way he’d prefer his team’s injury news to be revealed.

“I think at the end of the day, players sometimes get out in front of it and want to let fans and other people know how they’re doing,” Vanney said. “But ultimately there is a way and a time and a place to give that, because it’s also about the opposition, game management, game prep, all those kinds of things.

“It’s not earth shattering in this situation, but in different circumstances these things could be very important information that you give to the other team or the opposition that you don’t necessarily want to be doing.”

Vanney also pushed back against his striker’s assessment that he could be out for more than a month, saying he’s hopeful the timeline could be as little as 10 days.

“With Javier, he’s in the treatment phase, then he’s gotta go through return-to-play [protocol],” Vanney said. “I don’t know exactly … 2-5 weeks is a long range. Our anticipation with the grade 1 hamstring strain is 10 days to a couple of weeks.”

Chicharito scored 18 goals in 32 regular season games for the Galaxy in 2022. The club will make its season debut against FC Dallas after last week’s opener against LAFC at the Rose Bowl was postponed due to severe weather.

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David Beckham, Peyton Manning debate whether it’s soccer or football in World Cup Doritos ad

Pro Soccer Wire has an opinion on this issue!

David Beckham and Peyton Manning are trying to settle the major dispute of our times.

In a new World Cup ad from Frito-Lay, they’re debating whether to call the sport being played during the tournament soccer or football. It’s an ongoing argument that will probably never be settled. So long as there’s an Englishman jumping into your mentions to say “it’s called football, mate,” or a U.S.-based team in a soccer league tacking an FC onto their name, we’ll be doing this forever.

Beckham and Manning try to hash the issue out, while also bickering over whether they’re chips and cleats or crisps and boots, as the former England midfielder settles in to watch the World Cup on the NFL quarterback’s couch.

With the two retired pros at an impasse and chomping on various chips/crisps, they got some outside help. Mia Hamm, in coach mode at a youth soccer field, lands hard on the side of soccer. Comedian Ron Funches, dressed as a football* referee and officiating the game Hamm’s team is playing in, disagrees.

*note: We at Pro Soccer Wire have made our choice on this matter clear, and you can even buy a shirt endorsing our correct position.

Up in a broadcast booth in some other location, more USWNT legends have their say. Julie Foudy poses the question, and gets her answer in the form of a Brandi Chastain sports bra that reads “SOCCER.”

We then go field level, with Chicharito and Tim Howard having, for unclear reasons, a penalty kick shootout. Chicharito offers a third option, fútbol, with Howard sticking up for soccer. The Mexico and LA Galaxy striker seemed to miss his spot kick, but he had an ulterior motive: demolishing Howard’s bag of Cheetos, and catching one of the flying snacks for himself.

It’s a galaxy-brain solution, and might make Chicharito the real winner from this commercial.

We come back to Beckham explaining the entire history of every sport played with a ball, before he slips up and notes that he owns a soccer team (Inter Miami), before mobs of people end up outside chanting for soccer and football, respectively. Everyone knows that’s just what happens when famous people playfully argue over a topic.

Whatever you call it, the biggest tournament in the men’s version of the sport kicks off on November 20.

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LAFC beat LA Galaxy 3-2, El Trafico remains the best thing in U.S. men’s soccer

The LA rivalry never, ever fails to deliver

There’s nothing quite like Major League Soccer, and within MLS there’s nothing even remotely like El Tráfico.

LAFC and the LA Galaxy always deliver utterly wild games, and their Western Conference playoff clash was right up there with the best of them. A back-and-forth match saw LAFC — who took the lead three different times — pick up a stoppage-time winner from Cristian Arango to emerge 3-2 victors.

The pre-game story was about who wasn’t there. Gareth Bale was left out entirely for LAFC, while Juventus legend Giorgio Chiellini ended up playing roughly three minutes as a last-gasp substitute.

This being El Tráfico, though, something bonkers was sure to come along to change the subject. Fortunately, Riqui Puig delivered just 12 minutes in, in the strangest fashion. Puig burst into the LAFC box and went down under very modest contact. He wasn’t going to get a call, and Jesús Murillo was pretty displeased with the former Barcelona midfielder’s pursuit of a penalty.

Murillo offered some harsh words. Puig? A headbutt…or at least an attempt at a headbutt? Fox Sports 1 never got a truly conclusive angle of Puig at least  making a solid attempt at shutting Murillo up with his forehead.

Referee Allen Chapman had a huge choice to make, and opted to ignore the whole “that’s a headbutt” side of things, giving Puig a yellow card and the Galaxy a huge break.

With the game properly amped up in the overheated tradition of this particular rivalry, it was time for goals. Despite spending much of the early exchanges fending off long spells of Galaxy possession, LAFC broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute. It was their best sequence of the half by far, as LAFC connected over a dozen passes before Carlos Vela produced a splendid through ball. Slashing between the center backs, Dénis Bouanga had no trouble firing past Jonathan Bond.

Still, the Galaxy were looking confident, and got level through their rivalry ace Samuel Grandsir. The French winger has taken plenty of flack from Galaxy fans for a lack of production, and for good reason. Against anyone other than LAFC in 2022, he has a meager two goals and three assists.

Against their biggest rivals, though? Grandsir entered the match with one goals and four assists in three total meetings this year, and picked up another goal by smashing home after Eddie Segura’s poor clearance attempt fell to him.

The tempo seemed to drain out of the game at halftime, though it was probably just El Tráfico taking a break before coming back for the big finish. Things stayed weird, though, especially when Vela signaled for a substitution tracking back from a corner kick. Once Steve Cherundolo moved to bring Kwadwo Opoku on for him, there was confusion as the captain seemed to want to stay in, and then very reluctantly trudged off.

Normally that would be a massive storyline, but with what was to come, it will likely end up forgotten. First, LAFC took the lead through Bouanga, who tapped in at the back post after Ryan Hollingshead’s low cross was glanced to him by Opoku’s lunging touch.

The Galaxy needed a goal desperately, but in Dejan Joveljić they had the best player for the situation. Already an MLS record holder thanks to his eight goals as a substitute in 2022, it took the Serbian striker just 86 seconds after subbing on to tie things up.

Victor Vazquez tried to slip Chicharito in, and Joveljić actually appeared to intercept the pass. However, instead of helping LAFC, he just sized up his angle and curled a tremendous shot past Maxime Crepeau to tie things up in the 85th minute.

But this is El Tráfico, and if there’s time for something to be wild, it’ll be wild. LAFC won a corner kick three minutes into stoppage time, and Kellyn Acosta’s back-post service found Bouanga unmarked at the back post. Bouanga tried to sneak in a shot to give himself a hat trick, and though Bond managed to react in time to keep it out, he couldn’t stop Arango from stabbing the rebound home, sending Banc of California Stadium into bedlam.

Watch all the goals from LAFC’s El Tráfico win

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LA Galaxy solve Nashville SC puzzle, advance to face LAFC in MLS playoffs

Goals called back couldn’t stop the Galaxy from a confident win

Despite finding themselves in a game that suited Nashville SC, the LA Galaxy have their first playoff win in three years.

A Galaxy side that has often struggled to cope when things get tough were kept to just seven shot attempts at home by Nashville, but showed real resolve to get a 1-0 playoff victory. The Western Conference’s fourth seed, managing a tactical battle with possession and patience, advanced thanks to just the second professional goal of defender Julián Araujo’s career.

Referee Armando Villarreal was a major factor, as he had to chalk off goals for both sides. First, Randall Leal ripped an eight-yard shot past Jonathan Bond in the 37th minute after Teal Bunbury beat Séga Coulibaly to a header. Villarreal, however, signaled for a foul on Bunbury, who seemed mystified by the decision.

Early in the second half, it was the Galaxy protesting a call. Riqui Puig lead a clinically-run counter, feinting to freeze Walker Zimmerman before slipping Chicharito in for an angled finish over Joe Willis. Chicharito danced in celebration, but VAR spotted some clear contact before the break forward between Julián Araujo and Hany Mukhtar.

After a three-minute check, Villarreal saw the angle he needed, calling the goal back and keeping the game scoreless.

The Galaxy responded with complaints, but also with added energy, and Villarreal had no issues with the next time they put a ball past Willis. Moments after LA had hit the woodwork, Samuel Grandsir and Douglas Costa produced a clever exchange on the right, with Costa crossing for Araujo — making a clever long run from the right flank to the back post — to nod home just his second professional goal.

Puig slashed through the Nashville midfield again only to be denied a highlight-reel goal by Willis, but from there the teams swapped their stereotypical roles: Greg Vanney brought in Derrick Williams to go to a 5-4-1 formation, while Nashville began leaving plenty of numbers forward in hopes of an equalizer.

The Galaxy had to sweat it out in the final moments, with Jacob Shaffelburg firing just wide and Zimmerman nodding the final touch of the game to Mukhtar, only for the ball to bounce just barely out of the German MVP candidate’s reach.

A win for the Galaxy sets up a titanic edition of El Tráfico in the Western Conference semifinal on Thursday, October 20, as they’ll head across the City of Angels to take on LAFC. While the Galaxy have the historical edge in their city derby, their one and only playoff meeting saw LAFC win a 5-3 thriller back in 2019.

Watch the goal that sent the Galaxy through

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MLS announces 2022 year-end award finalists

The league will have a first-time MVP winner as five players were named finalists

Major League Soccer has announced its year-end award finalists for 2022, with five players up for the league’s MVP award including LA Galaxy star Javier “Chicharito” Hernández.

Chicharito is joined by Philadelphia Union goalkeeper Andre Blake, Golden Boot winner Hany Mukhtar of Nashville SC, Golden Boot runner-up Sebastián Driussi of Austin FC and Cristian “Chicho” Arango of Supporters’ Shield winner LAFC.

None of the five finalists have ever won an MLS MVP award, with Mukhtar (2021) and Blake (2020) having been finalists once before.

The year-end award finalists earned the most votes in polling of the following three voting groups:

  • Current MLS players
  • MLS clubs (coaches, technical directors/general managers)
  • Select media members

Winners of the awards will be announced throughout the MLS playoffs, which will kick off on Saturday. The MLS Best XI will be announced on November 1.

MLS year-end award finalists

Landon Donovan MLS MVP

  • Cristian “Chicho” Arango (LAFC)
  • Andre Blake (PHI)
  • Sebastián Driussi (ATX)
  • Javier “Chicharito” Hernández (LA)
  • Hany Mukhtar (NSH)

Young Player of the Year

  • Thiago Almada (ATL)
  • Brenner (CIN)
  • Jesús Ferreira (DAL)

Defender of the Year

  • Alexander Callens (NYC)
  • Jakob Glesnes (PHI)
  • Kai Wagner (PHI)

Goalkeeper of the Year

  • Andre Blake (PHI)
  • Drake Callender (MIA)
  • Djordje Petrovic (NE)

Comeback Player of the Year

  • Jeremy Ebobisse (SJ)
  • Gonzalo Higuaín (MIA)
  • Kei Kamara (MTL)

Sigi Schmid Coach of the Year

  • Steve Cherundolo (LAFC)
  • Jim Curtin (PHI)
  • Wilfried Nancy (MTL)

MLS WORKS Humanitarian of the Year

  • Alejandro Bedoya (PHI)
  • Kei Kamara (MTL)
  • Brad Stuver (ATX)

MLS Referee of the Year

  • Allen Chapman
  • Ismail Elfath
  • Armando Villarreal

MLS Assistant Referee of the Year

  • Ian Anderson
  • Chris Elliott
  • Corey Rockwell

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It’s not a great idea to call Chicharito a clown

“The best way to respond to a tifo like that is scoring two goals and celebrating like a clown”

San Jose Earthquakes fans learned a harsh lesson on Saturday night: Don’t call Javier “Chicharito” Hernández a clown.

The Quakes met the LA Galaxy in the latest edition of the Cali Clasico, and the home fans unveiled a tifo before the match that didn’t quite sit well with their opponent’s star forward.

“The LA circus — same clowns, different costumes,” read the banner, along with a picture of a pair of clowns.

Just 12 minutes into the game, Chicharito opened the scoring in front of the home fans at Stanford Stadium and celebrated, of course, like a clown.

The striker would go on to score again in the second half, reaching 17 on the season, as the Galaxy notched a crucial 3-2 victory. After the game, Hernández thanked the Quakes fans for providing him with a little extra motivation on the night.

“You know, sometimes people think that those kinds of stuff is going to put our confidence in ourselves down and they do completely the opposite. They motivate us, they motivate me at least,” he said.

“So, thank you. Thank you for the people to put that [tifo] because that brought something else from me, because now I had more desire to win and to get the three points.”

The striker added: “The best way to respond to a tifo like that is scoring two goals and celebrating like a clown.”

Watch Chicharito’s clown celebration

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