Now It’s Time for Galaxy’s Hernandez to Face the Past
Luis Hernandez has the chance today to make amends for a moment of madness a year ago.
It occurred in the semifinals of the 2000 U.S. Open Cup, when the Galaxy’s Mexican striker got tangled up with the Chicago Fire’s Polish playmaker, Peter Nowak.
In the scuffle, Hernandez appeared to purposely step on the face of the fallen midfielder and was tossed out of the game, which the Fire won, 2-1, in overtime, en route to its second Open Cup title.
U.S. Soccer reacted by banning Hernandez not for one or two games, as expected, but for the entire 2001 Open Cup tournament.
As a result, “El Matador” has not played in any of the Galaxy’s four Open Cup victories to date, including the 1-0 overtime victory over the Fire at Cal State Fullerton on Wednesday night that put Los Angeles into the Oct. 27 final against the New England Revolution.
Today, however, Hernandez and Nowak will be on the same field again when the Galaxy plays the Fire at 1 p.m. in a Major League Soccer game at the Rose Bowl.
Hernandez has two options:
* He can show a smile and a handshake and assume that Nowak is equally willing to forget last year’s unpleasant confrontation.
* He can scowl and suggest that further fireworks are forthcoming.
In either event, it is likely that he will be given close attention by the Fire defenders.
Chicago Coach Bob Bradley believes the all-tournament punishment was deserved.
“I think even Luis would tell you that it was a bad foul--out of character but nonetheless a bad foul,” Bradley said. “A decision was made and it was a harsh decision, but I think a fair one as well.”
Not surprisingly, Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid disagrees, although his unhappiness has faded with each Galaxy victory.
“The only thing that I would say is that the punishment handed out was pretty extreme. It’s a one-game suspension for a red card, and to have [what will amount to] a five-game suspension is very extreme. But that’s what was given, and it’s something that we have to accept.”
Bradley is well aware of the threat on offense Hernandez poses.
“He’s obviously a terrific attacking player,” he said. “I think that all defenders enjoy the challenge of going against players like Luis Hernandez. That’s how defenders make their reputations.
“Going about that job, you have to use your intelligence, you have to use your timing. It’s not just about playing him in a physical way. He’s too smart and too good. He’s dealt with physical, bad defenders and probably has made them look pretty silly.”
That doesn’t mean the Galaxy striker will be spared any hard tackles. On the contrary.
“It’s part of what you expect when good teams and good players compete against each other,” Bradley said. “He played very well against us at Soldier Field earlier this year [scoring twice in a 4-3 Galaxy victory on May 30]. We certainly understand that we need to defend better against Luis Hernandez if we want to have a chance to win.”
Schmid points out that Hernandez comes in for more than his fair share of fouls. It’s an opinion shared by Germany’s 1990 World Cup-winning striker, Jurgen Klinsman, a close friend of the Galaxy coach. “One of his comments to me was that he’s surprised that Hernandez doesn’t get into more scrapes during games than he does.” Schmid said.
“Luis is a proud individual,” Schmid said. “He wants to succeed. He was disappointed in his performance last year.
“I think the thing he’s shown the guys, maybe more so this year than last year, is that there’s nobody on the team who wants to win more than he does.”
