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Most of the world never gave Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez a chance at Real Madrid. He was supposed to just be a stop-gap replacement for the departed Alvaro Morata. If anything, his loan was seen as a blessing for a player that had found himself cast out of Manchester United’s suddenly star studded strike force. Now, He had the opportunity to prove himself at the biggest club in the world, to show all of Manchester just how wrong Louis van Gaal was to send him away. But even the majority of those who saw his loan as a minor set back before a major comeback were hard pressed to believe that a comeback would actually ensue.
They believed that, as talented as Chicharito obviously is, there was no way he possessed the kind of all-around game to make a name for himself at Madrid. He would last the year, no more; that was the outcome that the smart money backed.
It is true that Chicharito will never be Karim Benzema or Dennis Berkamp. He is a poacher, always has been, always will be. But being a poacher is by no means a restriction to achievement.
Radamel Falcao made a name for himself by becoming the best traditional number 9 in the world. Falcao, like Hernandez, liked to finish off moves with a single touch, and at the peak of his powers, doing exactly that made him one of the top 5 players in the world. Being a poacher or a traditional number 9 is not a restriction, but most saw it as exactly that when it came to Chicharito’s success at Real Madrid.
This was the mountain that Javier Hernandez had to climb. At 26, there was no way he could suddenly change the style of play; he is what he is. It was up to him in order to show that that he belonged at Real Madrid, that a poacher like him deserved to be counted among Los Blancos. And, after scoring the 88’ winner against Atletico Madrid, we can safely say that he has indeed done that.
That goal may not have earned him a place as a starter, and it may have not have even guaranteed him the back-up role for next season, but make no mistake, it proved Chicharito belongs at Real Madrid. He has scored an average of one goal every 105 minutes in La Liga, a scoring rate that he has so consistenly upheld that it should be his calling card. He only needed to show that he could show up on the big stage, and now he has done that at.
He has what it takes to be Madrid’s back-up striker, the kind that can be relied upon to score if it is a Sunday in October or a European night in April.
Photo: YouTube
Even if the face of his greatest triumph, there are those that would bring him down. None other than Theirry Henry himself said that Hernandez’ place at Madrid is questionable, and he even went so far as to say that Hernandez’ celebration was selfish.
"I don't know about his future [at Real Madrid]. To be fair to him, he doesn't usually play. Tonight was his opportunity and we don't even know if he's going to play after that," Henry told Sky Sports. "He had a couple of chances in the game before that but I can tell you he can thank Ronaldo tonight…That is, for me, Ronaldo's goal. What I don't like after [the goal] is it seems like he won the World Cup. Turn around and celebrate with Ronaldo.”
Who can guess why Henry is so stubborn and cold in his analysis, but one thing is certain: the only person that Hernandez should have been thanking was himself.
Did Hernandez have a perfect game on the night? No, but neither did absolutely every other attacking player on the pitch. Even Ronaldo, the man that Hernandez apparently should have been fawning over, missed one of the best chances of the game before he set up the winner. That Hernandez didn’t celebrate with Ronaldo was not selfish, it was pure.
It is ridiculous that Henry should criticize Hernandez for not celebrating with Ronaldo. Hernandez had just achieved an incredibly emotional triumph — Spanish media were calling this match the biggest game of his career — there is no room for right or wrong with such pure emotion: it simply is.
Look at Chicharito and ask yourself what you see. That is not a cold hearted victor wondering in contempt what his teammates would do without him. That is a young man overcome by what he has just done.
"This is the most important goal of my career, yes,” he said after the game. “Because only the present is important. I might have scored other important goals in my career, but what matters is the present.”
And he also gave credit where credit was due.
"It might have been me who scored the goal but it belongs to everyone - those who have had confidence in me, my team-mates and my family. This goal is for all of them.”
After the game, Chicharito was the player that we have all come to know and love: humble, but with a maturity that was more pronounced that ever before. A maturity that speaks to how hard he has had to try to prove that he belongs at Real Madrid, that he has what it takes. He cried after scoring that goal not because he succeeded in proving it to Real Madrid, but because he had succeeded in proving it to himself. That is the triumph that those tears represent: the triumph of self-belief, maturity, and strength.
No matter where Chicharito goes or doesn’t go next year, he can take with him the knowledge that his performances have risen above circumstance. He is capable of performing anywhere, at any time. That’s the kind of ability that will lead to many, many more goals. And who knows, maybe next time he doesn’t celebrate with Ronaldo no one will notice. Not because no one cares, but because he’s on the opposite team.
