Javier Hernandez Balcazar, was born on June 1, 1988 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, better known as "Chicharito" (little pea) is a Mexican Soccer player who plays as a striker and is one of the great promises of Mexican soccer.
The nickname "Chicharito" was given by his father, Javier Hernndez Gutirrez, was nicknamed "pea", due to its low stature and green eyes; and thus "Chicharito" is the "little pea." Hernndez Gutirrez, participated in the World Cup 1986 in Mexico. Chicharitos maternal grandfather is the great player Tomas Balcazar, who scored in the 1954 World Cup against France and led his team Chivas del Guadalajara to 8 Championships in 10 years. Chicharito joined in the youth squad of Guadalajara at only 9 years old. Chicharito has been playing with the youth squad of Chivas, through subsidiaries such as Chivas Coras de Tepic in 2005 and the Sports Club Tapatio.
Chicharito made his professional debut on September 9, 2006 in a 4-0 Chivas Necaxa game, scoring the last goal in the 83rd minute; he only played 5 minutes that game. That was his only goal in 8 games between 2006 and 2007. He also played 6 games between 2007 and 2008 with Chivas, without scoring.
In 2008, Javier played 7 games, without any goal, however in the Clausura 2009 season Chicharito scored 4 goals in 15 games with Chivas. It was not until the Apertura 2009 when the "Chicharito" began to excel for Chivas, finishing as the third top scorer, having scored 11 goals in 17 games, becoming a permanent starter.
In the Bicentennial 2010 season, Javier became the star striker for Chivas. Javier started the tournament scoring 2 goals in each of the first 3 games of the tournament, to Toluca, to Tigers, and to Estudiantes (formally Club Tecos). The latter was one of the best games of Chicharito for Guadalajara; Chivas was losing 2-0 with 20 minutes left in the game, Chicharito gave an assist for a goal and went on to score 2 goals himself.
After having scored goals against Queretaro and Atlante, Chicharito did not score a goal for 5 games, although still the top scorer of the tournament, with 8 goals. It was not until game 11 when he scored again, scoring a goal in his team's defeat 2-1 at Monterrey.
Heir to the glories of Thomas Balcazar and Javier Hernandez, former stars in Guadalajara and Mexico. "Chicharito" is the Mexican soccer star that the Mexicans fans have been waiting for. His great performance with Guadalajara drew the attention of several European clubs, including PSV Eindhoven of the Netherlands, VfL Wolfsburg in Germany and Valencia CF in Spain. However, on April 8, 2010, Javier signed a 5 year contract with Manchester United of England.
The official Manchester United website announced the news on the hiring of Hernandez and manager Alex Ferguson spoke about: "I am delighted to reach an agreement with Chivas to take the young striker who so far has a prolific career for both club and country. He will be a great addition to our team and look forward to welcoming our Mexican player for the first time in the summer.
We are also excited to play our first game in Mexico, opening the new stadium's Chivas in July," he said.
For now, Hernandez Balcazar would become the third-best priced Mexican player in Europe. According to the company Transfermark, responsible for reviewing the movements of players and their market value, the top valued are: Rafael Mrquez (Barcelona), Andres Guardado (Deportivo Coruna), worth 12 million euros (16 million dollars.)
Javier Hernandez, with nearly 10 million dollars puts him over Carlos Vela (Arsenal), who is priced at five million euros.
On July 30, 2010 Manchester United play Chivas in the inauguration match for stadium Omnilife. Chicharito played the first half with Chivas and the second with Manchester. Chicharito scored the first ever goal in that stadium against Manchester United. The score remained 3-2 in favor of Guadalajara.
