Héctor Herrera


Héctor Miguel Herrera López is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Atlético Madrid and the Mexico national team.
Herrera began his career with Pachuca in 2010 and spent three years at the club before joining FC Porto. He struggled for playing time in his first season at the club, before gradually cementing his place in the starting eleven. Since the 2015–16 season, Herrera served as club captain. In his six years with Porto, Herrera made over 240 appearances across all competitions and won a Primeira Liga title and two Supertaça cups.
A full international since 2012, Herrera won the Olympic gold medal in that year's football tournament, and was part of Mexico's winning team at the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup, as well as representing his country at the 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cup, the 2013 and 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, and the Copa América Centenario.
In 2014, he was included in The Guardian's list of The 100 best footballers in the world.

Club career

Pachuca

Herrera began playing football for the youth sides of Pachuca. As a youth, he was nicknamed Zorrillo, as well as Zorro.
Herrera made his debut for Pachuca on 21 July 2010 in a 0–1 defeat to Chivas USA in a 2010 North American SuperLiga match. Herrera made his league debut for Pachuca in a 1–4 home defeat to Santos Laguna on 23 July 2011. He made 14 appearances for Pachuca in the 2011 Apertura, and was a shortlist candidate for the rookie of the tournament award.

Porto

On 28 June 2013, it was announced that Herrera was transferred to Portuguese club Porto for €8 million. He made his unofficial debut with Porto on 13 July in the final of the Valais Cup against French team Marseille, coming on as a substitute in the 60th minute of the game for Fernando. Mexican teammate Diego Reyes also made his debut with Porto in the club's 3–0 win.
Herrera made his official league debut on 18 August, substituting Lucho González in the 82nd minute in Porto's 3–1 victory over Vitória de Setúbal. On 6 October, Herrera played his first 90 minutes in Porto's 3–1 away win over Arouca. On 22 October, Herrera set a new UEFA Champions League record for the fastest dismissal for two yellow cards when he was sent off in the sixth minute of the group stage match against Zenit Saint Petersburg. Herrera scored his first league goal with Porto on 20 December in a 4–0 win against Olhanense, scoring on a volley after being on the pitch eight minutes after coming on as a substitute. In his first season with Porto, Herrera played in 17 league matches, and in 33 across all competitions, scoring three goals in total, all of which were scored in the league.
On 20 August 2014, Herrera scored his first goal in Champions League play in Porto's 1–0 win over Lille. On 25 November, he played an important role in Porto's 3–0 Champions League away win over Belarusian club BATE Borisov, scoring the first goal of the game and providing two assists, all in the second-half.
On 22 August 2015, Herrera scored his first goal of the 2015–16 season in Porto's 1–1 draw against Marítimo at the Estádio dos Barreiros. In December 2015, Herrera was named Porto's "Player of the Year" for the previous season. On 12 February 2016, Herrera, wearing the captain's arm-band, scored the equalizer in Porto's 2–1 win over arch-rivals Benfica. Herrera was called up for the final of the Taça de Portugal against Braga on 22 May 2016, playing in the 120 minutes of the match and failing to convert his penalty shot in the subsequent 3–2 shoot-out defeat.
On 15 April 2018, Porto defeated Benfica 1–0 at the Estádio da Luz, with Herrera scoring in the 90th minute from a shot outside the box. The win took Porto to the top of the table with 76 points, two ahead of Benfica with four matches remaining in the season. On 5 May, after a 0–0 draw between Benfica and Sporting CP, Porto won the league title with two games left to play.
On 4 August 2018, Herrera began the 2018–19 season captaining Porto in their 3–1 win over Aves to clinch the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira. On 22 September, Herrera made his 200th appearance for Porto in all competitions following a 2–0 victory over Vitória Setúbal. In March 2019, he captained Porto in their 4–3 aggregate victory over Roma in the Champions League round of 16, with Porto reaching the quarter-finals for the first time since the 2014–15 competition. On 30 March, Herrera, in captaining Porto to a 3–2 victory against Braga, made his 237th appearance in all competitions for the Dragões, placing him fifth in the club's all-time list of appearances by a foreign player, four games behind Lucho González.
Amid reports linking him to Atlético Madrid, Porto president Pinto da Costa confirmed Herrera would leave the club on the expiration of his contract. On 18 May, Herrera scored in his final Primeira Liga game with Porto in the team's 2–1 victory over Sporting CP.

Atlético Madrid

On 3 July 2019, Atlético Madrid announced via their website that they had reached an agreement with Herrera. He signed a three-year contract, and was officially presented at the Wanda Metropolitano with the number 16 shirt. After failing to appear for Los Rojiblancos in the first month of the season, he made his competitive debut on 18 September, coming on as a late substitute for Thomas Partey and scoring the equalizer in the 90th minute to salvage a 2–2 draw against Juventus in the opening group game of the UEFA Champions League. Three days later, Herrera made his debut in La Liga as a starter against Celta de Vigo, playing 60 minutes in a 0–0 draw.

International career

Mexico U23

In 2012, Herrera was chosen by coach Luis Fernando Tena to participate in the 2012 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament held in the United States. Mexico went on to win the tournament by defeating Honduras in the final, thus qualifying to the 2012 Olympic Games held in London.
Herrera was a vital part in the Mexico squad that won the 2012 Toulon Tournament, and was awarded the Meilleur Joueur, the most outstanding player of the tournament.
Herrera made the final cut for those participating in the 2012 Summer Olympics. Mexico won the gold medal after defeating Brazil 2–1 in the final.

Mexico national team

In 2012, Herrera was called up by coach José Manuel de la Torre to play for Mexico in the World Cup qualifiers against Guyana on 12 October and El Salvador on 16 October. He made his senior national team debut against El Salvador, a 2–0 win for Mexico.
On 7 June 2013, Herrera was called up to participate in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup. He made only one appearance, in a 0–2 loss to host-nation Brazil, coming on as a substitute for Gerardo Flores in the 58th minute of the match.
On 8 May 2014, Herrera was included in the final 23-man roster participating in the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He was a starter in all three of Mexico's group stage matches, as well as playing in the 1–2 round-of-16 loss to the Netherlands. On 4 September 2015, Herrera netted his first goal with Mexico in a friendly against Trinidad and Tobago, scoring off of a corner kick pass from outside of the box, tying the match 3–3. Four days later, he scored his second goal in a 2–2 draw against Argentina.
On 17 May 2016, Herrera was listed on the roster for the Copa América Centenario and appeared in all group stage matches as a starter. On 5 June, in Mexico's first group stage match against Uruguay, Herrera scored the third goal in the 3–1 victory.
On 8 June 2017, he was listed on the roster for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. He would go on to appear in all five matches as Mexico lost the third place play-off against Portugal with a score of 2–1. With three assists, Herrera finished as the assist leader of the tournament.
On 4 June 2018, Herrera was included in the final 23-man squad for the World Cup. In the first group stage match against Germany, which Mexico won 1–0, Herrera’s performance was praised in particular. He would appear as a starter in all three group stage matches and the round-of-16 match against Brazil, where Mexico lost 2–0.
In May 2019, Herrera issued a statement via Twitter confirming that he would not form part of the national squad participating at the CONCACAF Gold Cup, citing fitness concerns as well as wanting to decide his "professional future" as his contract with Porto was expiring. He reappeared with Mexico in the friendly match against the United States on 6 September, and played all 90 minutes in El Tri's 3–0 victory. The following month, Herrera captained Mexico in the CONCACAF Nations League fixtures against Bermuda and Panama, scoring off of a free kick layoff in a 5–1 victory against the former.

Style of play

Herrera is described as a box-to-box midfielder, capable of halting opposing advances and able to distribute the ball or shoot the ball on target. He is also known for his pace and dynamism, as well as being capable of breaking up opposition attacks with his tough tackling and starting his team's own forays forward with his sharp distribution and tireless running.
Herrera has cited Juan Román Riquelme as an idol and an influence on his playing style.

Personal life

In June 2019, Herrera obtained an EU passport after residing in Portugal for six years.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

GoalDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.4 September 2015Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, United States3–33–3Friendly
2.9 September 2015AT&T Stadium, Arlington, United States2–02–2Friendly
3.13 November 2015Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico2–03–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
4.5 June 2016University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, United States3–13–1Copa América Centenario
5.6 October 2017Estadio Alfonso Lastras, San Luis Potosí, Mexico3–13–12018 FIFA World Cup qualification
6.11 October 2019Bermuda National Stadium, Devonshire Parish, Bermuda5–15–12019–20 CONCACAF Nations League A

Honours

Club

;Porto
;Mexico U23
;Mexico