‘Chicharito’ Hernández tears up after Ibai’s Kings League invitation

Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernández may not be going to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar but it looks as if he now has another big soccer competition to look forward to in the MLS off-season.

Chicharito has now confirmed he is joining Ibai’s team.

‘Chicharito’ invited to Kings League - a 7-a-side soccer league run by Ibai and Gerard Piqué

Mexico’s all-time leading goalscorer was seen getting emotional on livestreaming platform Twitch on Friday after being invited to take part in a new project led by Spanish Twitch sensation Ibai Llanos and former Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué, who have this week announced the creation of Kings League - a 7-a-side soccer competition - in which former stars and well-known streamers will take part, including Piqué himself, Iker Casillas and Sergio Agüero.

For those not familiar with Ibai’s work, he operates the world’s fourth-most followed Twitch channel in the world, which is the number one Spanish-language channel. Along with Piqué, he is the co-founder of Esports team KOI, while just a matter of days ago he conducted a long-form interview on Twitch with the former Barcelona defender, who spoke in detail about his out-of-the-blue announcement that he was retiring from soccer.

On Friday, Ibai announced that he needed another couple of players for Porcinos FC, his new Kings League team, and after announcing that he had “dreamt about signing ‘Chicharito’ Hernández to play up front”, up popped the LA Galaxy striker to discuss the tentative invite.

“It would be from January until February or March. And then in summer because that’s when the second season starts. Anyway, the best thing is for you and I to strike up a relationship!” said Ibai.

Presenting the Kings League team roster. Which one is your favourite?

‘Chicharito’ tearing up on twitch after Kings League conversation with Ibai

Clearly tempted, Chicharito, who runs the ch14 Twitch channel, immediately put his mind to work to find a way to make it happen. “I don’t have any games until the 25th of February with LA Galaxy. It’s something we can talk about, my agent will have to get involved a bit because I’m an employee of one of the biggest clubs in MLS but we can negotiate and try it! It’d be so cool to pull this off, I really appreciate it!”

Minutes later, the former Manchester United man was seen tearing up on his own channel, seemingly overcome with emotional at chatting with Ibai, which even he was surprised by. “It’s mad, it seems stupid, it’s just a stream and there are more important things in life but, wow, this really means a lot to me. I’ve followed Ibai a lot, he’s amazing, he’s unique, he’s daring. I admire him a lot. I’m crying with excitement. You all know I’m a cry baby, I cry at anything.”