Luis Hernández (footballer)

Luis Arturo "El Matador" Hernández Carreón (born December 22, 1968 in Poza Rica, Veracruz, Mexico) is a retired Mexican football striker, the fourth highest goalscorer of all-time for the Mexico national football team, and their highest goalscorer in World Cups. Hernández played with teams in Mexico, Argentina and the United States. He played well in South America, especially in his Copa América performances. He is widely regarded and one of the most talented strikers in the Americas.

In Mexico, Hernández played with a number of clubs, including Querétaro F.C., Cruz Azul, C.F. Monterrey, Necaxa, Club América, UANL Tigres, CD Veracruz, and Chiapas, and was twice named Mexico's Player of the Year in 1997 and 1998. He also played in Mérida Argentina, when he was signed by South American club Boca Juniors after his brilliant performance in the 1997 Copa América, but he failed to break into the starting line-up and spent the rest of his time on the bench. Returning to Mexico bitterly disappointed, he played with Necaxa and later on with UANL Tigres. It was with these two clubs, that he displayed his stupendous form, scoring 9 goals in 12 matches with Necaxa and 38 goals in 64 games with Tigres. He also became the only player to score goals in the Clásico Regiomontano with both teams from Monterrey.

After a few seasons with Tigres without qualifying to playoffs, Hernández ventured into the United States, in 2000 and signed with Major League Soccer club Los Angeles Galaxy. Hernández registered 15 goals in 40 games in the regular season and playoffs for the Galaxy. Hernández returned to Mexico in 2002 to play two more seasons with several clubs, including Club América, C.D. Veracruz and Jaguares de Chiapas, before retiring in 2004.

Known for his long blond hair, number 15 jersey and nickname of El Matador, Hernández had his first international cap against Uruguay on February 1, 1995. Hernández scored his first international goal on November 16, 1995 against Yugoslavia. Hernández gained notability during the 1997 Copa América, where he scored six goals and became the tournament's leading goal scorer. At the 1998 FIFA World Cup, he finished among the competition's top scorers with four goals, and became the first Mexican player to score more than two goals in World Cup history. The 35 goals he scored for Mexico puts him behind Carlos Hermosillo to trail Cuauhtémoc Blanco (39 goals) and Jared Borgetti (46 goals) as the nation's 3rd highest all-time leading goalscorer.

Hernández also played in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, albeit as a substitute in three games, and failed to score. Hernández made his last international cap on June 17, 2002 against the United States.

International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	November 16, 1995	Estadio Tecnológico, Monterrey, Mexico	Yugoslavia	1–2	1–4	Friendly
2.	December 6, 1995	Estadio Héroe de Nacozari, Hermosillo, Mexico	Slovenia	1–0	1–2	Friendly
3.	January 17, 1997	Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego, United States	Denmark	2–0	3–1	1997 U.S. Cup
4.	April 13, 1997	Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico	Jamaica	6–0	6–0	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
5.	April 20, 1997	Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough, United States	United States	2–0	2–2	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
6.	June 13, 1997	Estadio Ramón Tahuichi Aguilera, Santa Cruz, Bolivia	Colombia	1–0	2–1	1997 Copa América
7.				2–0
8.	June 16, 1997	Estadio Ramón Tahuichi Aguilera, Santa Cruz, Bolivia	Brazil	1–0	2–3	1997 Copa América
9.				2–0
10.	June 19, 1997	Estadio Ramón Tahuichi Aguilera, Santa Cruz, Bolivia	Costa Rica	1–0	1–1	1997 Copa América
11.	June 28, 1997	Estadio Jesús Bermúdez, Oruro, Bolivia	Peru	1–0	1–0	1997 Copa América
12.	December 12, 1997	King Fahd II Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Australia	1–2	1–3	1997 FIFA Confederations Cup
13.	February 8, 1998	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, United States	Trinidad and Tobago	2–1	4–2	1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup
14.				4–2
15.	February 12, 1998	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States	Jamaica	1–0	1–0	1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup
16.	February 15, 1998	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States	United States	1–0	1–0	1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup
17.	April 15, 1998	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States	Peru	1–0	1–0	Friendly
18.	May 9, 1998	Stadio Enzo Mazotti, Montecatini, Italy	Estonia	2–0	6–0	Friendly
19.				4–0
20.				6–0
21.	June 13, 1998	Stade de Gerland, Lyon, France	South Korea	2–1	3–1	1998 FIFA World Cup
22.				3–1
23.	June 25, 1998	Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne, France	Netherlands	2–2	2–2	1998 FIFA World Cup
24.	June 29, 1998	Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier, France	Germany	1–0	1–2	1998 FIFA World Cup
25.	November 17, 1998	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States	El Salvador	1–0	2–0	Friendly
26.	November 18, 1998	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States	Guatemala	1–0	2–2	Friendly
27.	February 19, 1999	Hong Kong Stadium, Wan Chai, Hong Kong	Egypt	3–0	3–0	1999 Carlsberg Cup
28.	June 9, 1999	Soldier Field, Chicago, United States	Argentina	1–0	2–2	Friendly
29.	June 16, 1999	Dongdaemun Stadium, Seoul, South Korea	Croatia	1–0	1–2	1999 Korea Cup
30.	June 30, 1999	Estadio Antonio Oddone Sarubbi, Ciudad del Este, Paraguay	Chile	1–0	1–0	1999 Copa América
31.	July 10, 1999	Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, Paraguay	Peru	1–2	3–3 (p.s.o)	1999 Copa América
32.				2–2
33.	January 9, 2000	McAfee Coliseum, Oakland, United States	Iran	1–0	2–1	Friendly
34.	February 13, 2000	Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, United States	Trinidad and Tobago	2–0	4–0	2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup
35.	January 31, 2001	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States	Colombia	2–0	2–3	Friendly

Club

International

Club

Necaxa

• Mexican Primera División: 1994–95, 1995–96
• Copa México: 1994–95
• Campeón de Campeones: 1995
• CONCACAF Cup Winners Cup: 1994

Los Angeles Galaxy

• Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup: 2001

América

• Mexican Primera División: Verano 2002

International

Mexico

• FIFA Confederation Cup: 1999
• CONCACAF Gold Cup: 1996, 1998

Individual

• Copa América top scorer: 1997
• CONCACAF Gold Cup Golden Boot: 1998