Soccer
Héctor Herrera still banned after shocking MLS outburst, delaying Toluca debut
After a successful three seasons with the Houston Dynamo, the Mexican’s final act in orange was to spit at a referee.
Héctor Herrera has returned to Liga MX to see out the final years of his illustrious career but his long-awaited Toluca debut will be delayed as the Mexican serves out a three-game ban.
The 34-year-old left Houston Dynamo after three seasons in MLS, a spell which delivered a playoff run to the Conference Final and a US Open Cup triumph. But Herrera’s time in Houston ended on a less successful note; sent off for spitting at a referee during a decisive postseason loss to the Seattle Sounders.
In his defence, Herrera only spat ‘in the direction’ of referee Armando Villarreal. Nevertheless, he was given a straight red card for the gesture and hit with a three-game suspension. And although Herrera has now left MLS the suspension is applied in all FIFA-affiliated league competitions, meaning that he will miss the first three games of Toluca’s Liga MX campaign.
When will Héctor Herrera make his Toluca debut?
Herrera, a 105-cap Mexican international, was a major offseason signing for Toluca. Antonio Mohamed’s side finished the Apertura 2024 regular phase in second place but fell in the playoffs quarter-final, suggesting that they were missing a bit of quality and big-game experience.
Herrera has both, but he won’t be available to feature for Toluca from the start. His three-game suspension would seen him miss games against Tijuana, Monterrey and Mazatlán. Herrera should be back in contention for a meeting with Pumas UNAM on January 29.
The Mexican international earned a $5.2 million annual salary with Houston in 2024, making him the eighth-highest earner in MLS. An additional year on his contract could have been triggered for 2025 had he hit certain performance targets but an injury early in the season restricted him to just 22 Houston appearances.
The club had the option to extend his deal for another year but opted against. Speaking at the end of the 2024 season, Dynamo general manager Pat Onstad admitted that the unsavoury incident against he Sounders had played a part in the decision.
“It’d be tough to say that doesn’t factor into it,” said Onstad. “There are a lot of factors that go into any decision you make within a roster. For us, Hector has probably been the greatest signing — certainly one of the greatest signings in the club’s history."
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