Why is Javier Hernández called "Chicharito"

Javier Hernández is a Mexican striker born in Jalisco. He began his soccer career at the age of 9 in the youth teams of Club Deportivo Guadalajara and since then he has not stopped achieving success. Throughout his career, he became a member of international clubs such as Manchester United, Real Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, West Ham United and Sevilla. 

At club level, his best performance was with Manchester United in the 2010/2011 season, where he became champion of the Premier League and the Community Shield, being one of the scorers of the team and surpassing great figures such as Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen. Currently, Javier Hernández serves as captain of Los Angeles Galaxy, where he has been a member since January 2020. Find the latest news about the Major League Soccer, and get to know all the details of the competition.

Throughout his career, he has been compared to the Norwegian striker Ole Gunnar Solskjær and the Mexican Hugo Sánchez for his style of play. In 2010, the International Federation of Football History and Statistics named Javier Hernández the third-best goal scorer in the world.

As well as Chicharito played for some of the most important European clubs, such as Real Madrid, he also faced some of the toughest rivals as part of other teams. Learn more about the best team he played for, and its results in the most important tournaments. Without a doubt, and according to his own words, the best team he had to face during his career was FC Barcelona.

The origin of his nickname

Most of the soccer stars we know carry a nickname that makes them unique and often these chosen names hold a great enigma for fans.

The origin of the Mexican star's nickname goes back to a family tradition. Javier is the son of Javier "Chícharo" Hernández, a former Tecos F.C. star who played in the 1986 World Cup. His father was nicknamed “Chícharo” by his siblings: it means “little pea” in Spanish and they chose it due to his green eyes and short height.

When Javier began his path in the world of soccer, he was called "Chicharito", using the diminutive in honor of his father, as he possessed soccer skills very similar to his own. 

Chicharito used his alias on many of the jerseys he wore for the important clubs in which he played and in the most relevant tournaments like the Premier League, LaLiga and Bundesliga. Even during his time at Manchester United he forced the English to call him "little pea".