Luis Arturo Hernández Carreón (born 22 December 1968), commonly known as El Matador, is a Mexican former professional

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 lea ...

. He is widely regarded as one of Mexico's most talented strikers. On the international stage, Hernández made 85 appearances and scored 35 goals. He represented

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

at the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

in 1998 and 2002. Along with

Javier Hernández Javier Hernández Balcázar (; born 1 June 1988), commonly known by the nickname Chicharito (, Mexican Spanish: ''little pea''), is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a striker for Liga MX club Guadalajara. He is known for his c ...

, he is Mexico's all-time leading

goalscorer.

Club career

In Mexico, Hernández played with a number of clubs, including

Querétaro F.C. Querétaro Fútbol Club, also known as Gallos Blancos de Querétaro, is a Mexican professional association football, football club based in Querétaro (city), Querétaro. It plays in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football league system, M ...

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul S.A. de C.V., commonly referred to as Cruz Azul, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football league system, Mexican footba ...

C.F. Monterrey Club de Fútbol Monterrey Rayados, A.C., simply known as Monterrey or by its nickname Rayados, is a Mexican professional association football, football club based in the Monterrey metropolitan area, Nuevo León, that plays in Liga MX, the top d ...

Club Necaxa Impulsora del Deportivo Necaxa S.A. de C.V. (); often simply known as Club Necaxa, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in Aguascalientes (city), Aguascalientes. It competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican ...

Club América Club de Fútbol América S.A. de C.V., commonly known as Club América, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City. Nicknamed ''Las Águilas'' (The Eagles), it competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football ...

Tigres UANL Club Tigres de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, abbreviated as Tigres UANL and simply known as Tigres or internationally as Tigres de México, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in the Monterrey metropo ...

, C.D. Veracruz, and

Chiapas Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises Municipalities of Chiapas, 124 municipalities and its capital and large ...

, 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 Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

after his brilliant performance in the 1997

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

, 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

. 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 The Clásico Regiomontano, Clásico Regio, Clásico del Norte or Clásico Norteño is a football derby in Nuevo León, Mexico, between crosstown rival teams C.F. Monterrey and Tigres UANL. Since the first Clásico in 1974, the two teams have comp ...

with both teams from

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

. After a few seasons with Tigres without qualifying to playoffs, Hernández ventured into the United States, in 2000 and signed with

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

Los Angeles Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

. Hernández registered 15 goals in 40 games in the regular season and playoffs for the Galaxy. Hernández returned to Mexico in 2002 to play three more seasons with several clubs, including

, C.D. Veracruz,

Chiapas F.C. Jaguares Fútbol Club is a Mexican football club based in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, that plays in Liga Premier, the third level division of Mexican football. Founded in 2002 as Jaguares de Chiapas Fútbol Club, then changed its name to Chiapas ...

, and

Lobos BUAP Club de Fútbol Lobos de la Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla were a Mexican football club based in Puebla, Mexico. The club represented the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla. The club's history goes back to the early 1930s ...

before retiring in 2005.

International career

Known for his long blonde hair, number 15 jersey and nickname of '' El Matador'', Hernández had his first international cap against

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

on February 1, 1995. Hernández scored his first international goal on November 16, 1995, against

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. Hernández gained notability during the

1997 Copa América The 1997 Copa America was the 38th edition of the Copa America. It was held in Bolivia from 11 to 29 June. It was organized by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body. In this edition, Costa Rica and Mexico were the invited teams to br ...

, where he scored six goals and became the tournament's leading goal scorer. At the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

, 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 makes him trail

Cuauhtémoc Blanco Cuauhtémoc Blanco Bravo (; born 17 January 1973) is a Mexican politician and former professional footballer serving as a member of the Chamber of Deputies. He served as the Governor of Morelos from 2018 to 2024 under the coalition ''Juntos H ...

(38 goals),

Jared Borgetti Jared Francisco Borgetti Echavarría (; born 14 August 1973) is a Mexican former professional footballer who currently works as a commentator for ESPN Deportes and ESPN Mexico. Borgetti earned a reputation as a prolific goal scorer, particu ...

(46 goals) and

Javier Hernandez Javier may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Javier, in video game '' Advance Wars: Dual Strike'' * Javier Rios, a character in the Monsters, Inc. franchise. * ''Javier'' (album), a 2003 album by the American singer Javier Colon, known a ...

(52 goals) as the nation's fourth highest all-time leading goalscorer. Hernández also played in the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

, albeit as a substitute in three games, and failed to score. He made his last international cap on June 17, 2002, against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Mexico's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Hernández goal.''

Honours

Monterrey *

CONCACAF Cup Winners Cup The CONCACAF Cup Winners Cup was an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its secondary continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. It was held from 1991 to 1998, althou ...

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

Necaxa *

Mexican Primera División Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divi ...

: 1994–95, 1995–96 *

Copa México Copa MX, also known as Copa Corona MX for sponsorship reasons, was an association football competition in Mexico and the domestic cup tournament for clubs at the highest and second levels of Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Copa ...

: 1994–95 *

Campeón de Campeones Campeón de Campeones () is an association football competition in Mexico and the domestic super cup between the Liga MX champions of the ''Apertura'' and ''Clausura'' tournaments. It was initially a super cup match between the league and cup cha ...

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

LA Galaxy *

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

* Western Conference Regular Season:

América * CONCACAF Giants Cup: 2001 *

: Verano 2002 * Selectivo Pre Pre-Libertadores: 2001 * Pre-Libertadores Tournament: 2001 Mexico * FIFA Confederation Cup:

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

third place:

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup () is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament is held every two ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

* Pan American Games Silver Medal:

Individual *

top scorer:

FIFA World Player of the Year The FIFA World Player of the Year was an association football award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA, between 1991 and 2015 at the FIFA World Player Gala. Coaches and captains of international teams and media representative ...

Nomination:

third top scorer:

(Shared) *

South American Team of the Year South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

: 1998 *

Golden Boot:

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

World's Third Best Goalscorer: 1998 * South American Player of the Year Nomination: 1998 * RSSSF Player of the Year Nomination: 1998, 1999 *

third top scorer:

(Shared) *

MLS All-Star The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual Association football, soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring selected players from the league against an international club or selected players from another league. MLS initially ado ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

* Salón de la Fama del Fútbol Internacional:

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

References

External links

International statistics
at

rsssf The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (''RSSSF'') is an international organisation dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around ...

* * *
Official Website - Luis Hernandez
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hernandez, Luis 1968 births Living people Footballers from Veracruz Liga MX players Argentine Primera División players LA Galaxy players Club América footballers Club Necaxa footballers Querétaro F.C. footballers Cruz Azul footballers Lobos BUAP footballers C.F. Monterrey players C.D. Veracruz footballers Boca Juniors footballers Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1997 Copa América players 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup players 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 1999 Copa América players 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players FIFA Confederations Cup–winning players CONCACAF Gold Cup–winning players Mexico men's international footballers Tigres UANL footballers Jaguares F.C. footballers Mexican expatriate men's footballers Mexican men's footballers Mexican expatriate sportspeople in the United States Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars Men's association football forwards Footballers at the 1995 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for Mexico Pan American Games silver medalists in football Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games 20th-century Mexican sportsmen