Javier Chicharito Hernandez opened up on worldwide television. He almost quit football.
The Mexican forward talked about his desire to be a starter at Manchester United and revealed how close he was to retiring early on in his career in an exclusive with Telemundo’s Andres Cantor on “Titulares Telemundo”
Andres Cantor: How does it feel to play for one of the world’s most popular teams?
Javier Chicharito Hernandez: I am going on four years here [at Manchester United] and really, like I have always said, I am happy to be able to play for one of the best clubs in the world. So I’m happy, doing my best every single day to earn more minutes on the pitch
AC: How are you adapting to the rotation, to not being in the starting lineup? Because many here are starting caliber players.
Javier Hernandez: I strive for that, I am working towards that, earning a spot as a starter. I know that my performance on the pitch will allow me to achieve that goal someday either here [in Manchester] or elsewhere for any other club. I just need to be given more opportunities to showcase what I can do, because all of us want to be able to contribute our part so this team can win championships.
AC: Must be nice to compete with Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie, right?
JH: Of course! What better way to compete anywhere in the world than to compete with them? The competition inside the team has always been really healthy and I think that helps the team a lot, because there are so many quality players that every one of them wants to earn a starting spot. The practices and matches coming up will force us to step up and help the team grow both at an individual and collective level.
AC: What do your teammates call you? Javier?
JH: They call me a lot of things, but never Javier, I wasn’t really even called that in Mexico except by my family and some friends. I have always been “Chícharo” or “Chicharito”, or also “Chicha” here [in England], so yeah, I have been called many things. They never even called me by my name at school, it has always been the nickname I inherited from my father.
AC: We know you are a very religious man, tell us a little bit about your pregame ritual.
JH: There was a time when I went through a very difficult time at Chivas, when I had really lost all faith in myself and started to seriously wonder whether this was the path God had set out for me, to play football. Everyone obviously knew I was the grandson of Don Tomás Balcázar and Javier “El Chícharo” Hernández’s son, so I always felt a little obligated to be a football player. That was what many people believed I was destined to do and what I had in mind as well, even though I had always dreamed of being a professional football player ever since I was little. Football has always been in my blood and I have always loved the sport, so all that sort of carried me towards becoming a football player…That time of my life was very complicated for me, but thank god that things turned out well. I was very patient and lucky to have my family and loved ones as my pillars of support to be strong, to believe in myself again, and that is when I decided to thank God for every match I start in. I was so close to not playing football anymore, but now you can see my career made a turn for the best. Life and football can be that way, so I do it as a way to say thank you.
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. An analyst for 95.7 The Fan and 1620 The Zone, he also writes for Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks), Facebook, and RSS