Within 90 seconds of his introduction in the second half, Javier “Chicharito” Fernandez was on the boards with a fantastic finish, almost got another, and then was brought down for a spot kick which Nani converted. We are looking at a star. This is no marketing ploy- he has amazingly quick feet and a nose for goal.
Man Utd ran out 7-1 winners over a League of Ireland XI (Airtricity League XI) in a match commemorating the glistening new £340m Aviva Stadium in Dublin. 50,000 fans were at hand to watch Chicharito and his exploits.
Park Ji Sung looked in good nick with his two goals, Antonio Valencia was a handful down the right with his contribution, Michael Owen showed a very deft touch. And Wayne Rooney showed glimpses of his old self although the timing was still way off.
He was more in the news with photographs of him carousing till the wee hours of the morn with his buddies, smoking a cigarette, and emptying his bladder on a wall. Not really exemplary behaviour but not worth the bile the media unleashed on him. They will be all over him but who will be all over them? The very people who put him on a pedestal, fattened him on platitudes, are the ones intent on tearing him down.