COLUMBUS, Ohio — After the match, Cucho Hernandez is all smiles. The Columbus Crew forward has just been named Man of the Match and awarded Best Player of the 2024 Leagues Cup, a tournament he capped with a two-goal, one-assist performance in a 3-1 Leagues Cup final win against LAFC.
During the game, though?
Don’t cross him. He’s angry.
“I’m mad the whole game,” Hernandez said, thankfully smiling while speaking to reporters after the final. “Some of my teammates tell me that. I’m really quick-tempered. You can see it. And I experience all 90 minutes at 100%.
“When we make a mistake, I’m mad, but I always push on. We’ve got that mentality, where if things are going poorly, we’ve got to keep pushing and trying to get out of the hole. That mentality helps us win.”
Hernandez certainly helped the team win Sunday night. His header on a cross from Mo Farsi in the 45th minute sent the Crew into the halftime break with the lead. While Olivier Giroud answered that goal with his debut LAFC tally, Hernandez was able to score a second and set up a third, pushing the Crew to the victory.
Even after all that, it was that header that stuck with Crew manager Wilfried Nancy as an example of what his Colombian superstar is able to do on the field and the attitude with which he plays.
“The first goal, for me, was amazing because he showed who he is,” Nancy said. “He plays the ball, and he can shoot, but the rage that he has to score - my mother-in-law loves him for that. Not because he scores but because of the passion that he has.”
But while Hernandez holds this rage that only a mother-in-law could love inside him, it’s typically not something he unleashes on his teammates. He bottles up the anger and directs it toward himself, toward opponents, toward the ball, toward anything until there’s the moment of passion, of joy, on Sunday night of celebration as he ripped off his shirt and yelled with the fans in the Nordecke, Columbus’ supporters section.
Whether the second goal of the night, the one that came in the 92nd minute and rescued the Crew from a tense penalty shootout, was supposed to be a shot or a cross can be debated. But you can’t debate his motivation on the third goal of the match, which came just two minutes later.
“I’m going for my hat trick,” Hernandez told himself at first but then he saw the center back’s position and teammate Jacen Russell-Rowe making a run.
“I’ve always been characterized by always thinking about the team,” Hernandez said. “I decided to pass to Jacen, and I knew he was going to score. Jacen is a killer, and we knew he’d finish it.”
He did, thwarting any chance at an LAFC comeback to force that shootout and making sure the Crew would be able to celebrate lifting a trophy in front of more than 20,000 fans at Lower.com Field.
It may seem somewhat simple: Cucho opted to make the right play rather than the selfish one moments after enjoying a great individual moment. Yet, it also is an example of the Crew’s team philosophy. There are stars, and Hernandez is the brightest. But he and the Crew’s other top players are happy to work within a system that allows for the players who may not be as-known to excel and have great moments.
“When I took over the team I tried to explain to my players that, yes, the goal is important. It’s the final action. But what we do before is more important to me,” Nancy said. “The third goal we did really well. Cucho as the 9 could’ve kept the ball, tried to do something, but this is our team. This is the pass, a gift, and we celebrate. I was really happy for that.”
That’s why Cucho has become the type of player who, along with running buddy in attack Diego Rossi, has a full stadium chanting his name with a specific cheer. He is a fan-favorite who typifies what this era of the Crew is about: Playing hard, showing fight and lifting trophies.
“Obviously Cucho is an excellent player, but he also has the humility to work, to keep getting better,” Rossi said. “I think as a team we all work like that, always trying to get better. Cucho’s play up top is really important. He had a great game and helped us get the victory.”
There are questions about what comes next for Cucho. His strong play not only in Leagues Cup but in MLS play as a whole has many wondering if he may make a return to La Liga in Spain or the Premier League in England where he played before coming to Ohio.
There also are plenty of people in the Americas wondering when he might hear from manager Nestor Lorenzo about a call-up for the Colombia national team.
What is Cucho setting his sights on? “The next goal is Wednesday’s game,” he said. “That’s all. That’s my mentality and the team’s mentality. Every game is a final, so we want to win Wednesday and get closer to the MLS playoffs. Personally, I’ll think about all those other things after that, but the near-term future is Wednesday, and that’s all I’ll think about.”
Three days until he once again finds that hunger, that anger, the rage he lets out when finding the back of the net, making the right pass or tracking back to play defense.
Tonight, though, he goes to bed Leagues Cup champion. That’s something to smile about.
