From Tragedy to “Golden Chicharito”

Last week, Carlos Reyes Stoneham wrote a wonderful post detailing Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez’s unfortunate issues on Real Madrid, including his almost-permanent relegation to the bench, potential bumps he could face once his loan to Real Madrid expires, and his strained relationship with both Real and Manchester United.  However, a few days later, Hernandez scored the game-winning goal in Real’s 1-0 derbi madrileño victory over Atlético Madrid in the 88th minute, rapidly garnering praise, adulation, and nicknames such as “The Great Unexpected Hero” or, my favorite, “The Golden Chicharito” around Spain’s capital.  Carlos updated his post accordingly, but the goal is an absolute must-see, especially with a beautiful assist from Cristiano Ronaldo.  It can be found at the link below, since ESPNFC does not allow embeddable videos:

http://www.espnfc.us/uefa-champions-league/2/video/2413277

While watching the goal live, and having read Carlos’ post beforehand, I couldn’t help but feel even more invested in Hernandez’s tally than I usually feel while watching Real Madrid score.  Yes, I was happy my team was advancing to the semifinals of the Champions League, one step closer to their Undecima, but at the same time, I was even more happy because it was Hernandez who had gotten us there.  Not the injured Bale or Benzema; not the hot James; not even Cristiano, who, had he not been all-but trampled by Atlético defenders before reaching the net, had probably scored the goal himself.  As Hernandez said in his post game interview, although the game “was a team effort,” “it was my turn to score.”

But OF COURSE there was some backlash to Hernandez’s celebration, specifically by former Arsenal (and Barcelona) star Thierry Henry.  Admittedly, Hernandez did celebrate pretty intensely—a classic knee-dive into the pitch, arms out, taking in the crowd.  He felt pain in his right foot almost immediately afterwards, and cried tears of emotion as he was receiving treatment on the bench.  However, Henry criticized Hernandez for treating the goal “like he won the World Cup”:

“He had a couple of chances in the game before that but I can tell you he can thank Ronaldo tonight. I know he went on to celebrate alone and everything but he can thank Ronaldo. For me, he has to. That is, for me, Ronaldo’s goal. What I don’t like after is [he celebrated] like he won the World Cup. Turn around and celebrate with Ronaldo.”

It’s obvious that Henry didn’t read Carlos’ post, and realized how much Hernandez’s goal meant beyond the already enormous implications of breaking Real’s 3-game winless streak against Atlético to reach the Final Four of the Champion’s League.  For once, this moment wasn’t about Ronaldo: it was about a brilliant player who had finally gotten the chance to prove his worth under the brightest of lights in Santiago Bernebeu, and more than executed when the opportunity arose.  I guarantee that the first thought going through Hernandez’s head wasn’t “sweet goal WHERE’S RONALDO?”—just like how Henry’s first thought going through his head when he scored his 400th goal definitely wasn’t “cool now WHERE’S DAX MCCARTNY?”

…just like how Cristiano acted (a bit like “he won the World Cup”, if you will) against Atlético last year…

…which recevied so much attention that Cristiano now has his own “shirtless celebration” in FIFA 15…

…and is only one of his many trademark celebrations, so much so that he ended his Ballon d’Or acceptance speech with one of his signature yelps:

The point is, Hernandez deserved the 88th minute, charged with more emotion than Henry and many other pundits realized.  Despite his gorgeous assist, that moment wasn’t Ronaldo’s—he’s had plenty already.  The only one making a big deal and souring Hernandez’s moment was Henry himself, reaching for a controversial backstory to talk about as a commentator to garner attention.  But wasn’t Hernandez’s backstory, his transformation from “tragedy” to “golden” in mere days, enough?