SOCCER:HARRY REDKNAPP blamed his scouting staff a few weeks back for Tottenham losing out to Liverpool when it came to the signing of the Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez. But then Kenny Dalglish must wonder how a former Mexican international taking a degree course at Merseyside's John Moores University ultimately led to Javier Hernandez moving to Old Trafford rather than Anfield.
Marco Garces studied sports science under the noses of the Liverpool hierarchy for four years but was befriended during that time by Manchester United’s chief scout Jim Lawlor to whom he recommended the young Chivas striker after returning home.
As he prepares for tonight’s final, the 22-year-old recalls how he was still sceptical when Lawlor presented himself as a representative of the English giants.
“I didnt know if it was genuine or not, because some agents in Mexico have cards on which they put the badges of all the big teams of the world, so I thought: ’okay, its one more of them’. But my father told me: ’No, its really Manchester United’. I said to him: ’Dont joke with me about that’ but then when I saw my father crying, I knew it was really true, that it was Manchester United.”
Ten months later, the scale of the young striker’s impact in England may well have reduced Javier Hernandez senior, also a Mexican international in his day, to a gibbering wreck.
The talk at the time the deal was announced was that Alex Ferguson viewed the diminutive striker as one for the future and the player himself concedes that, having considered giving up full-time football just two years ago because of the lack of first team opportunities back in Mexico, he was thrilled just to be in with a chance of bedding down at such a big club in his first year. Instead, he marvels at being named as the club’s player of the year having scored 20 goals and struck up an irresistible partnership with the previously out of sorts Wayne Rooney.
“Its still hard to believe, especially when I was with my family when I got my medal and the Premier League trophy on Sunday.
“When I came here my first thought was that I needed to work very hard to get a lot of minutes or to try my best to play a little bit, like 10 minutes, in every game or whenever I got the chance. But right now Im playing a little bit more, a lot in fact, and when I got the medal it was just an unbelievable feeling.”
The United boss has heaped praised upon the Mexican, highlighting his pace, ability to use both feet and, perhaps most remarkable of all for one so small, his astonishing aerial prowess.
He was at it again yesterday, observing: “It’s been an incredible season for him. Nobody at the club thought he could achieve what he has in his first season here. With his temperament, speed and movement, he has all the things he needs to be an important player tomorrow night.”
Hernandez, meanwhile, for all his fluency in English, finds it hard to put into words his admiration for the United manager or the players he has suddenly found himself starring alongside.
“He (Ferguson) is unbelievable,” he says, “because he knows in every chat, in every pre-match talk he always finds the right words. It’s a gift. He knows how and when to say the good things and the bad things to make us improve.”
As for Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and Michael Owen: “The key is that they are top class players, they know how to move and are not selfish players. They play for the team and that has helped me to settle.”
The widely held view amongst neutrals is that the Barcelona are that little bit better but having already come so far in so short a space of time with United, Hernandez has certainly learned not to be intimidated.
“We prepare for every game in every competition looking at every team and knowing how we are going to play them.
“They have some clever players but the most important thing is that we think about us. We want to play like we have done for the whole of the season and we want to win like that.”
