Javier Hernandez (pictured) is nearing the 40-goal mark for Mexico. (Photo: Mexsport)
LOS ANGELES – Mexico's Javier Hernandez is in position to make history after breaking a four-month scoring drought.
His next tally will make him just the second player to amass 40 career goals for the Tricolor. Jared Borguetti, who played for Mexico from 1997 to 2008, is the national team's all-time leader with 46.
The 26-year-old forward scored his 39th to equal Cuauhtemoc Blanco by firing a 20-yard shot off the right post against Ecuador at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on March 28. That strike, which gave Mexico a 1-0 victory, was Hernandez's first for either club or country since he scored on November 12 in a 3-2 win against the Netherlands.
Hernandez -- whose father played for Mexico in the 1986 World Cup -- expressed gratitude to Mexico head coach Miguel Herrera.
"I'm very thankful that Miguel chose me for the team and that he has confidence in me and has supported me," he said. "I've needed that."
After emerging as a dynamic threat on two continents, Hernandez is experiencing his second consecutive frustrating season on the club level.
His European career started with 50 goals in 117 matches during his first three seasons with Manchester United. In 2013-14, however, Hernandez managed just nine goals in 35 appearances for the Red Devils. This season, Hernandez failed to score in two games before being loaned to Real Madrid on September 1.
Since joining the European champion, he has played just 10 games, making three starts and netting only four times.
"I haven't played 90 minutes in four months and I had a good game," Hernandez remarked about the Ecuador friendly. "It was very important.”
Herrera knows Hernandez is far more than a bench decoration for a major club.
"You can see that he's a player with a lot of quality," said the former Club America manager. "He's on another level and he showed it on the field beyond the goal. The attitude, the determination that he showed are what we want from the people we bring to the team."
