Vladimir Javier Hernández Rivera (born 8 February 1989) is a Colombian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays for

Junior de Barranquilla Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

. Mainly a

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, he can also play as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

or an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

Club career

Early career

Born in Arauca, Hernández was bought by

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

in 2000 at the age of 11, while playing for lowly amateurs Mundialito 90. He played for the youth setup before being assigned to the club's

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

Barranquilla Barranquilla () is the capital district of Atlántico Department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean Coast region; as of 2018 it had a population of 1,206,319, making it Col ...

, in 2007.

Atlético Junior

In 2008, after contributing with 25 appearances and four goals during the previous campaign, Hernández was called up by first team manager Julio Avelino Comesaña. He made his

Categoría Primera A The Categoría Primera A (), commonly referred to as Liga BetPlay Dimayor (between 2015 and 2019 ''Liga Águila'') due to sponsorship by online betting company BetPlay, is a Colombian professional league for association football clubs. It is the ...

debut on 13 September of that year, in a 1–0 home win against

Millonarios Millonarios Fútbol Club is a professional Colombian football team based in Bogotá, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the El Campín stadium. Millonarios was initially created in 1937 by students f ...

. He was handed his first start for the ''Tiburones'' eight days later, in a 1–0 home success over

Envigado Envigado () is a town southeast of Medellín, Colombia in the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley. It borders El Poblado, Medellín to the north, Sabaneta to the south, El Retiro and Caldas to ...

. Hernández only scored his first professional goal on 21 June 2009, netting the equalizer in a 2–2 away draw against

Deportivo Cali Asociación Deportivo Cali, best known as Deportivo Cali, is a Colombian sports club based in Cali, most notable for its football team, which currently competes in the Categoría Primera A. Deportivo Cali is one of the most successful footba ...

. He became a regular starter in the 2010 season, contributing with 22 matches and one goal as his side was crowned champions of the Apertura tournament. He scored five goals in the following year, also lifting the Clausura. Hernández scored his first

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

goal on 23 February 2012, netting his team's first in a 2–2 draw at Universidad Católica. He featured regularly, appearing in five matches in a group stage exit. Hernández scored his first professional brace on 31 August 2015, in a 3–1 home win against Deportivo Cali. He netted ten league goals in the campaign, also being a winner of

Copa Colombia The Copa Colombia ( en, Colombia Cup, link=yes); officially known as Copa BetPlay Dimayor is an annual football tournament in Colombia. It is contested by the 36 professional clubs of DIMAYOR and is the nation's domestic cup competition, equiva ...

Santos

On 13 October 2016, Santos' president

Modesto Roma Júnior Modesto Roma Júnior (born 5 December 1952) is a Brazilian businessman of the communications industry, and was the current president of Santos FC for three years. Personal life Roma was born in Santos, São Paulo. A journalism graduate, he aban ...

confirmed the signing of Hernández prior to the 2017 campaign. The rumoured fee was believed to be

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

1 million. After scoring a

bicycle kick In association football, a bicycle kick, also known as an overhead kick, scissors kick, is an acrobatic strike where a player kicks an airborne ball rearward in midair. It is achieved by throwing the body backward up into the air and, before d ...

goal in a 5–1 friendly home routing of

KAC Kénitra Kenitra Athletic Club (KAC) ( ar, النادي القنيطري) is a Moroccan football and basketball club based in the city of Kenitra. History The club, which was founded in 1938, is one of the most famous and popular football clubs in Moro ...

, Hernández made his official debut for the club on 9 March 2017 by replacing

Vitor Bueno Vitor Frezarin Bueno (born 5 September 1994) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Athletico Paranaense. Club career Botafogo-SP Born in Monte Alto, São Paulo, Bueno started his career at Monte Azul's ...

in a 1–1

away draw against

Sporting Cristal Club Sporting Cristal S.A. is a Peruvian sports club located in the city of Lima, best known for its association football, football team. It was founded on 13 December 1955 in the Rímac District, Rímac district by engineer Richard Bentín Mujica ...

. He first appeared as a starter on 12 March of the same year, providing two assists in a 4–1 away routing of São Bernardo FC. Hernández made his Série A debut on 14 May 2017; after coming on for Vitor Bueno, he scored his side's second goal in a 3–2 away loss against

Fluminense Fluminense Football Club (), known as Fluminense, is a Brazilian sports club best known for its professional football team that competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the first tier of Brazilian football and the Campeonato Carioca, ...

Atlético Nacional

On 19 January 2018, Hernández was announced at

Atlético Nacional Atlético Nacional S. A., best known as Atlético Nacional, is a Colombian professional association football, football club based in Medellín. The club is one of only three clubs to have played in every first division tournament in the countr ...

back in his homeland.

International career

Hernández was called up for the training session of the

Colombia national football team The Colombia national football team ( es, Selección de fútbol de Colombia) represents Colombia in men's international football and is managed by the Colombian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Colombia. They are a member ...

, between 14 and 18 February 2016 in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

. He was also named in Colombia's provisional squad for

Copa América Centenario The Copa América Centenario ( pt, Copa América Centenário, french: Coupe Amerique Centennaire, en, Centennial Cup America; literally ''Centennial America Cup'') was an international men's association football tournament that was hosted by the ...

but was cut from the final squad. Hernández made his full international debut on 25 January 2017, replacing Santos teammate Jonathan Copete in a 1–0 friendly loss against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

;Junior *

(3): 2010-I, 2011-II, 2023-II *

(1):

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

;Atlético Nacional *

(1):

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hernandez, Vladimir 1989 births Living people People from Arauca Department Colombian men's footballers Men's association football wingers Men's association football forwards Categoría Primera A players Categoría Primera B players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Atlético Junior footballers Atlético Nacional footballers Santos FC players Colombia men's international footballers Colombian expatriate men's footballers Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil