Cucho Hernández, a Colombian in pursuit of the MVP
The Columbus Crew star is one of the 30 nominees in his second year in the MLS.
Cucho Hernández arrived in the United States in July 2022. Columbus Crew paid almost $12 million to Watford, and he has turned out to be a star signing for the Eastern Conference team.
It was the most expensive transfer in the team's history, with the Colombian signing until December 2025. They were looking for a player with European experience, and Cucho fit the bill having played in La Liga and the Premier League.
His performances have been outstanding. He earned a starting spot in his third game for the club and has only gone up from there. In fact, he was selected as the MVP for September, with the award confirming his importance to the team.
He was one of the top scorers of the regular season, netting 16 goals, and surpassed only by Bouanga, Acosta, and Giakoumakis. He scored every 149 minutes and also provided seven assists. He's been lauded constantly throughout the year.
His coach, Wilfried Nancy, believes he is “the best modern forward in the league” and that, while there are still areas for improvement, Cucho has taken a major step forward.
The coach talked about his development: “He has the ability to take a step back, accept criticism, and understand what we want…to do everything to be better. He has amazing quality, but the big step he took is being open.”
The Colombian has left his mark in the team’s history books, as he equaled Stern John in September as the only players to score two hat-tricks in a season.
Moreover, Cucho’s last hat-trick was the second fastest in MLS history. He took 15 minutes to score three times against Chicago Fire.
He dreams of returning to the Colombian national team and doesn’t believe the MLS is a barrier: “People who are not familiar with this league say it's an easy league. But it doesn’t make it harder to get into the national team.”
Despite being the star of Columbus Crew and one of the highest goal scorers, his jersey is not among the top 25 best-selling in 2023, according to the league itself.
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