AP Photo/Lee Jin-man

Lozano, Vela keep Mexico rolling

By Nicholas MendolaJun 23, 2018, 12:53 PM EDT

Mexico is nearly onto the knockout rounds with plenty of time to spare.

Carlos Vela converted a PK and Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez also scored in a 2-1 win over South Korea on Saturday in Rostov-on-Don.

Heung-Min Son buried a shot in stoppage time for South Korea’s goal.

El Tri got another decent performance from Hirving “Chucky” Lozano, who also scored Mexico’s goal in a 1-0 win over Germany.

A Swedish win or draw against Germany at 2 p.m. ET moves Mexico onto the knockout rounds.

[ MORE: Latest 2018 World Cup news ]

.@CH14_'s 5️⃣0️⃣th goal for Mexico. Look what it means to him and the rest of #MEX!

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— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) June 23, 2018

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A handball allowed Vela his chance from the spot, and Mexico had its lead after 26 minutes.

Guillermo “Memo” Ochoa made several decent stops for Mexico in the win, though South Korea were admittedly wasteful in the final third.

Lozano then cued up Mexico’s insurance goal from Chicharito, who danced around a defender before bounding a ball home.

[ LIVE: World Cup scores ]

Son scored a beautiful goal in the third minute of stoppage time to put South Korea on the board.

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Chicharito says Mexican team “always feels welcome” in the United States

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By Kyle BonnMay 25, 2018, 9:39 PM EDT

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Mexico will take on Wales on Monday at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA as they warm up for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Playing in the United States is nothing new for the USMNT’s southern neighbors, and it doesn’t phase them. In fact, they love it.

Star striker Chicharito told reporters that he and the rest of the squad is more than happy playing north of the border, because according to him, apart from a pair of venues, they can’t even tell they’re on the road.

“We always feel welcome here,” Chicharito said. “It’s like our second country, if we can say that, apart from Columbus [Ohio] and apart from the stadium in Miami when we played Colombia…those two stadiums, that’s the only time I’ve felt that we were the away team.”

“We always feel welcomed here. It’s like our second country.”@CH14_ talks about how the 🇲🇽 fans living in the US make him feel whenever @miseleccionmxEN comes to play here#ElTriEng #MEXTOUR pic.twitter.com/oXrifyBBB8

— Fut Mex Nation (@FutMexNation) May 25, 2018

Chicharito knows that the high population of his countrymen and women in the United States helps the Mexican team feel close to home when they play over the border. He’s all for the melting pot of the US.

“We feel at home [in the United States],” Chicharito said. “We have plenty of Mexicans here, so I don’t know what else to tell you, we feel welcome, we feel glad, happy to be in touch with those people here. They are sacrificing a lot of things, and they are all enjoying their lives that they decide to live in the USA…it’s great. It’s great when you come to another country and you feel like you are home. You see all the stadium green, shouting and screaming your names, screaming your goals, so yeah, it’s great.”

Mexico will play Wales on Monday at 9:00 p.m. ET, and will return home to take on Scotland at Azteca on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. ET.

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Chicharito ready to leave West Ham this summer

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By Joe Prince-WrightApr 10, 2018, 8:45 AM EDT

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Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez seems to be keen on leaving West Ham United this summer.

Mexico’s all-time leading goalscorer, 29, jumped off the bench to score the equalizer at Chelsea on Sunday as the Hammers grabbed a vital point as they continue to climb clear of the relegation zone.

However, Hernandez spoke after the 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge and it seems like he would prefer to be elsewhere next season.

“I am looking to play 90 minutes every game. I want to give a headache to the manager like he has all over the squad. Some players are injured and coming back. We all want to play more than 20 minutes. Everybody wants to give everything to be in the team,” Hernandez said. “I say thank you to the fans. Since my first day here, they have supported me well. They shout my name and sing my songs. It was a good weekend for us because they were singing my name, then I scored and I could celebrate with them. It was a very good point. We are all very happy.”

Earlier this season the predatory striker said something similar as injuries and Moyes’ arrival impacted his minutes significantly.

That said, Hernandez has scored eight goals in the Premier League this season and has four in limited minutes since Moyes took charge in November. The El Tri star started his first 11 games at West Ham and scored four times and since then he has started just five times in his last 14 appearances, also scoring four times in that stretch with two off the bench.

Hernandez has played in 1,455 minutes this season and has four goals in his last seven games.

Whatever way you slice it up, Marko Arnautovic is the main striker at West Ham and Moyes prefers to play with just one central striker. The fact that Moyes benched Hernandez often when he was in charge of Man United in the past is irrelevant as the attacking talent at his disposal back then was far superior to his options at West Ham.

Should Hernandez play more at West Ham? Probably. Will he? Probably not.

Hernandez needs to find a team where he will be the main central striker or one of two up front and play regularly. He left Bayer Leverkusen to come back to the PL and it will be intriguing to see where he wants to go in the summer after the World Cup with Mexico. It seems like plenty of Premier League clubs will want to snap him up and despite limited minutes at West Ham this season his stock hasn’t dropped.

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“Sorry to Chelsea fans” – Chicharito the villain again

By Nicholas MendolaApr 8, 2018, 2:09 PM EDT

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Javier Hernandez came off the bench to score against Chelsea.

That’s something the Blues have seen before, now four times in the Mexican’s fine career. It’s the first time they’ve seen it in the maroon shirt of West Ham United, but still a similar sight.

[ RECAP: Chelsea 1-1 West Ham ]

“Sorry to Chelsea fans,” Hernandez said with a laugh. “Sometimes you get things like that in football. I cannot score against one team, I keep scoring against Chelsea. We get a point, that is the important thing. It’s not a decision of mine to start or not, but I make it difficult for him now.”

The 29-year-old has eight goals this season in 1,455 Premier League minutes, including four in his last seven outings.

His goal had goalkeeper Joe Hart, himself a star on Sunday, praising the diminutive striker for his desire following an international call-up on the other side of the ocean.

“We looked dangerous in the second half,” said Hart. “It’s nice to stay in the game. ‘Chich’ has come back from the other side of the world last week. I’m so glad he got fit for us and got the decisive goal.”

Chicharito wasn’t too happy, though, saying he felt he should’ve found a winner, too.

“Definitely,” Hernandez said. “It was one cross from Marko where if I make the move I can just tap in but these type of games are very difficult. (Against Chelsea) we had to be very clever, very focused. We have our next final against Stoke next weekend.”

The Hammers are now six points clear of the drop zone.

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Chelsea 1-1 West Ham United: Super sub Chicharito

By Nicholas MendolaApr 8, 2018, 1:24 PM EDT