Hernandez Won’t Be Missed by Galaxy
To the surprise of no one who has watched their oftentimes prickly relationship, Luis Hernandez and the Galaxy have parted company.
The blond Mexican striker never really lived up to his “El Matador” nickname during his two seasons in Major League Soccer and he will not be back for the final year of his three-year contract.
The Galaxy made the formal announcement Monday evening, but the handwriting was on the wall long before then.
When Coach Sigi Schmid was asked earlier this month whether Hernandez, the team’s leading goal scorer in 2001, would be back in 2002, he hedged momentarily.
“I’ve learned in this league not to predict anything because you never know what happens,” Schmid said.
“We need a quality forward, but we need one who is going to be with us in preseason training, who is going to be the Galaxy’s property, who is going to be there from the opening whistle of the first game to the final whistle of the last game and who feels that the success or the failure of the Galaxy is integral to him because it’s his only team.”
The Galaxy never saw Hernandez in that light. Unlike the team’s previous Mexican players, especially goalkeeper Jorge Campos, Hernandez was never taken to heart by his fellow players or the fans.
In part, that might have been because he was never truly a Galaxy player. Although his contract was held by MLS, he split time between the Galaxy and his Mexican team, Club America. In all, he appeared in only 30 games for Los Angeles and scored a modest dozen goals.
He missed both of the Galaxy’s successes this year: its CONCACAF Champions Cup victory in January because he was playing in the Mexican league, and its U.S. Open Cup victory in October because he was suspended from the competition for a year.
That suspension was the result of a petulant--some might say vicious--foul against the Chicago Fire’s Peter Nowak, who was on the ground when Hernandez stomped on him during an Open Cup semifinal game in 2000.
Hernandez also will be remembered in Kansas City, where he was accused of spitting on several Wizard players early in his first MLS season. The league fined him, warned him and swept the matter under the rug.
Now, MLS and the Galaxy have swept away Hernandez altogether and there are not many tears being shed.
“Luis was an integral member of the team during the two seasons, and he made some significant contributions,” said Schmid, who is scouting players in Costa Rica. “He has our thanks and we wish him well.”
North Korea Cup?
The possibility was raised again Tuesday that North Korea might stage two matches of the 2002 World Cup at its 130,000-seat stadium in Pyongyang.
“With luck it can still happen,” said Mong-Joon Chung, co-chairman of the Korean Organizing Committee and a FIFA vice-president. “I hope that [FIFA President] Sepp Blatter and myself can visit North Korea, maybe early next year, and that two matches can be played in Pyongyang.
“I must admit that after [Saturday’s World Cup] draw it will be very difficult to change the schedule, but there is still a chance.”
Bayern Munich Prevails
A headed goal 19 minutes into sudden-death overtime by defender Samuel Kuffour of Ghana earned European champion Bayern Munich of Germany a 1-0 victory over South American champion Boca Juniors of Argentina Tuesday in the annual Toyota/Intercontinental Cup in Tokyo.
A crowd of 51,360 at the National Stadium saw the teams battle for 109 scoreless minutes before Kuffour’s game-winner against the defending champions, who defeated Real Madrid of Spain in last year’s event.
“Bayern Munich made new history today by winning this match and proved we are the No. 1 club in the world,” Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld said. Bayern’s only other world club title was in 1976.
Buttery Barthez
A British supermarket chain, taking full advantage of the latest two blunders by Manchester United’s French national team goalkeeper Fabien Barthez, wants to use the 1998 World Cup winner to promote its brand of butter.
“After Sunday’s performance [a 3-1 loss to Arsenal] no one can doubt that Fabien is the ultimate butter fingers,” a spokesman for Tesco said.
“He’s rich, smooth and spreads well--exactly the same qualities displayed by our butter.”
Quick Passes
American pop star Anastacia will debut “Boom,” the official theme song for the 2002 World Cup, Saturday when the World Cup draw is held in Pusan, South Korea.... Dallas Burn and former Czech national team defender Lubos Kubik announced his retirement.... Colombian midfielder Leonel Alvarez, 36, has been released by the New England Revolution.... Gheorghe Hagi quit as Romania’s coach after a dispute with the nation’s soccer federation.
