Carlos Hermosillo

Lore & Background

Hermosillo started his club career with América during the 1983–84 season. He spent most of his club career in his native Mexico, also playing for Monterrey, Cruz Azul, Necaxa, Atlante, and Chivas. His best two seasons as a player were in 1994–95 and 1995–96, when he scored 35 and 36 goals respectively for Cruz Azul. He made two stints of career football outside Mexico: Belgium's Standard Liège in 1989–90 and Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy in 1998–99. For Galaxy, he scored 14 goals and 15 assists in two regular seasons, adding five goals and an assist in the playoffs. On 17 August 1986, he sparked an all-out war with Guadalajara's Fernando Quirarte that included others from either side; he was suspended for 12 games. Hermosillo was once the all-time goalscoring leader for the national team with 34 goals in official matches and 35 goals in all matches (90 caps between 1984 and 1997). He played in the 1994 FIFA World Cup, in which he could not use his favoured no. 27 jersey due to FIFA's numbering rules for official competitions. Since 1 December 2006, Carlos Hermosillo was named the minister of Mexico national sporting policy, Comisión Nacional del Deporte. President Felipe Calderón included him in cabinet-level matters. With an 18-year career with eight different clubs, Hermosillo retired. He last played with Guadalajara in 2001. He had a retirement game playing with Cruz Azul, his favorite team before professional play was Cruz Azul, also he won a championship with Cruz Azul in 1997.

In Their Own Story

The Azteca was a cauldron. Ninety minutes had passed, the score 1-1 against West Germany, and the noise was a physical force pressing against the eardrums. The ball swung into the box from a corner kick. Hermosillo didn't run. He simply adjusted his position by half a step, let the defender commit to the near post, and rose. The header was not a smash; it was a placement, a whisper of leather finding the far corner. For two seconds the stadium went silent, then detonated. He ran to the corner flag, arms wide, and the sea of white and green rose as one. West Germany would score twice more, but no one in that stadium would ever forget the moment El Chupis made the impossible feel inevitable.

Reader's Guide

Hermosillo is a forward known for his prolific scoring. He is the all-time leading scorer for Cruz Azul and second-highest in Mexican top-division history. His career includes seven Primera División titles and three consecutive Golden Boots. He played in the 1986 and 1994 World Cups for Mexico.

Did You Know?

• Hermosillo is nicknamed 'El Grandote de Cerro Azul'.
• He scored 35 and 36 goals in his best two seasons (1994–95 and 1995–96) for Cruz Azul.
• He was suspended for 12 games after a brawl with Guadalajara's Fernando Quirarte in 1986.
• He served as Mexico's minister of national sporting policy from December 2006.