Bengaluru FC midfielder Javi Hernandez has been playing in the Indian Super League for four seasons now and during this time he has made some great experiences. He has represented three teams and has played against and along with India’s biggest icon, Sunil Chhetri.
The Spanish midfielder has labelled the Indian striker as the best ever Indian football ever and also revealed his huge competitive nature and hunger to win more games. The Spaniard joined Bengaluru FC ahead of the 2022-23 campaign and he got an opportunity to work closely with the Indian legend. He singled out how he was taken aback by Chhetri’s hunger to achieve more even at the twilight of his career.
”About Sunil, everyone knows. He is the best Indian player ever and after playing with him last season, I realised he is one of those players, who is always hungry for more. He is very competitive during training and he wants to win no matter what. I can only say good words about him,” Javi stated in an interview with India.com.
Javi Hernandez was a very important player for Bengaluru FC this season as the Blues qualified for three finals while winning the Durand Cup. He has already bagged the ISL title in his debut season for ATK FC under the tutelage of Antonio Lopez Habas back in the 2019-20 season.
He then represented ATK Mohun Bagan and also reached the finals in the following season.
Hernandez then decided to join Odisha FC and had a very good season personally. He had 11 goal contributions for the Juggernauts, the second-highest for them in that season. However, the club did not achieve anything significant and therefore he decided to join Bengaluru FC ahead of the 2022-23 season.
This was his best season in India in terms of goal contributions. He netted seven goals along with providing five assists for the Blues. He was the man in the middle who was pulling the strings for the Blues.
He revealed how he was forced to play a more defensive role back in his previous club. However, he was happy with his individual performances at Odisha FC and last season with Bengaluru FC.
”Well, I have played four years so far in the (Hero) ISL and in the first few seasons, I couldn’t score or assist that much individually. I played in a more defensive role but in the last two seasons, talking about numbers I am very happy. In the 2021-22 season, my statistics were good but couldn’t reach the playoffs (with Odisha FC). But this season, we played three finals, (I) don’t know whether it has happened before or not in India. It is very competitive here as all the teams are equal and we are quite happy with our team’s performance,” he explained.
Having featured in 78 matches in the ISL, Hernandez feels that the level of Indian players have only gone higher since he joined the ISL. He highlights how football is growing in India and he hopes to see even better footballers coming up through the ranks.
”I feel the Indian players have improved very much since I came to India. Now, we are actually seeing some very good talents and youngsters coming up the ranks. Football here is growing and it is quite evident from the eight years of the Hero ISL. Hopefully, we will see better Indian players in years to come,” the Spaniard concluded.
