Carlos Hernández – Melbourne’s latest signing?

There is growing speculation that Costa Rican international Carlos Hernández will be making a move to the Victory. But who is he and should we be excited by this new prospect?

The original article to start this rumour was published in Nacion, a Costa Rican newspaper. The article claims that Hernández is in talks to join the Victory on a 2 year loan deal from Alajuelense, with an option to purchase. The translated version of that article is an entertaining, read, riddled with inaccuracies. It goes so far as to claim that the Victory has two foreign players, one Danish and the other Swedish. The latest article from Nacion, published yesterday, confirms the two year transfer deal. But still, there has been no mention of the deal from Melbourne Victory.

LD Alajuelense, the club that Hernández currently plays for, is one of the most successful teams in Costa Rica, winning the Primera División 5 out of the last 8 seasons. They have won the CONCACEF Champions’ Cup twice, most recently in 2004 and have finished runner’s up 3 times. Hernández, a 25 year old central midfielder, is a starting player for Alajuelense, reputedly with a reputation for scoring from long distance. In the past season he scored 3 times for his club. He has 19 caps for the Costa Rican national team, and was their second-highest goal scorer in the World Cup 2006 qualifiers behind Paulo Wanchope. He played in the World Cup matches against Ecuador and Poland, coming on as a substitute in both matches. In recent times, he has had to miss the Costa Rican squad for the CONCACEF Gold Cup, due to what seems to be a minor injury.

On ESPN’s Soccernet, Hernandez is described as “A diminutive central midfielder destined for a brilliant career, he is just as happy spraying around passes as striking wickedly swerving right-footed shots from open or set play.”

From the sounds of it, providing his injury is indeed nothing serious, he would be a good addition to Melbourne’s midfield. Now we just need to wait for confirmation from the Victory.