How Chicharito Hernandez earned the love of Real Madrid fans

Things weren’t great for Javier Hernandez when he arrived to Real Madrid just a few weeks back. He was widely seen as the very last resource for the club in their quest to get a competitor for Benzema in the squad, and after having heard names like Luis Suarez or Radamel Falcao all summer long, the arrival of a backup at lowly placed Manchester United wasn’t seen as an exciting market-closing move.

But Chicharito arrived in Madrid as happy as a toddler on the first day of kindergarten. The Mexican could not hide his emotions at having the shot at playing at a team that he had admired as a kid, and his yearning to prove himself was very well received by fans, press and peers alike.

However, the final test would come when he would end up dressing up for the team. Having been brought in a clear supporting role, Chicharito was seen by Ancelotti as a man who could close out games and help in case of emergency. His mobility and dynamic skills in the front could really help against teams who simply drop back and close out the space that players like Benzema, Ronaldo or Bale need to show the best of their repertoire.

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Chicharito also was preceded by his rep. He had scored in his debuts with Chivas and United, and there was a certain expectation that he would keep it up at Real Madrid, but his first minutes with the White Jersey would come at the worst time and against the worst rival.

Atletico Madrid did not gave the Mexican striker a chance to shine, and since the team lost the game, there was not much to write home about for Chicharito.

His second showing with Ancelotti’s squad was pretty much the same, but from the other side of the spectrum. The team achieved a solid victory against FC Basel in the Champions League, and Chicharito only had about 10 minutes at the end of the game to try and work his magic. With the team tired towards the end of the battle, the former Red Devil didn’t get a single chance to claim the spotlight, but after a 5-1 victory nobody overly criticized his lack of productivity.

Still, Chicharito showed he was ready to give it his all in those matches. He did not stop looking for ways to create opportunities and make the opposing defense uncomfortable, and it was only a matter of time until he would start to net them.

And of course, third time’s the charm.

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Against Deportivo La Coruña, Chicharito came in with a 5-1 on the scoreboard and left everyone in awe scoring the 7th and 8th goals for the team.

Both of them off great long range shots, but specially the first one, when he connected a tremendous volley with the outside of his foot on the upper-ninety right hand-side angle of German Lux’s goal.

His brace made fans see that Chicharito wasn’t just a young buck full of energy and nice words; he has the soul of a killer and can definitely help the team when the going gets tough. He has a promising year ahead of him, as his skills are totally complementary to those of his attacking peers: they are masters in creating chances and the Mexican is natural born finishing expert, so he may end up being a great last-minute pick up after all.