"Chicharito" chants resounded around Qualcomm Stadium as Mexico struggled against Chile in El Tri's final warm-up match. The striker waited patiently on the bench on his 28th birthday as the fans clamored for a glimpse of Mexico's biggest football star.
Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio finally decided to put Javier Hernandez on in the 78th minute. The Colombian said afterwards that it was a straight choice between sending in Hernandez or giving goalkeeper Jesus Corona minutes ahead of the Copa America Centenario, but that he wanted to win the game so went with the Bayer Leverkusen forward.
As if it was divine providence, Hernandez netted the winner in the 86th, ghosting in between Chilean defenders to head in and seal a 1-0 victory. It wasn't exactly a shock. Hernandez comes into the Copa America off the back of 22 goals in the Bundesliga and European competition for Bayer Leverkusen this season and in the form of his life. Everything Hernandez has touched of late has turned to goals.
Although Hernandez is the figurehead of Mexican football, he hasn't had a completely smooth past with the national team. Hernandez has netted 42 times for Mexico at a rate of 0.54 goals per game, which is higher than that of Mexico's great goalscorers: Jared Borgetti, Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Luis Hernandez and Carlos Hermosillo. Indeed, at some point in the Copa America Centenario, Hernandez is likely to score the two goals he needs to draw level with Borgetti's 44 goals and even surpass him. Yet Hernandez hasn't yet gone into a World Cup as Mexico's starting striker. In 2010, that was Guillermo Franco and in 2014 Oribe Peralta was preferred.
But there is a sense that everything is coming together for Hernandez at present and that his goals could well fire Mexico deep into this Copa America. There are valid reasons to believe that Mexico could even be a dark horse to win the whole thing. El Tri certainly have one of the most in-form strikers in the world and a group of players that have been together since before the 2014 World Cup.
Now one of the bona fide stars of the Bundesliga, Hernandez will lead a Mexico team that is full of confidence. El Tri have gone 19 games without tasting defeat, with Spain and Northern Ireland the next two on that particular list on 11 match streaks. If Mexico can avoid defeat against Uruguay in its Copa America opener on Sunday and then next Thursday against Jamaica in Pasadena, this team would equal the country's all-time record of 21 matches without suffering a loss.
There are lots of good, very good and unbelievably good teams in this Copa, but Hernandez's form and the confidence the side has garnered from winning games means Mexico is right up there.
Then there is the influence of Osorio. The 54-year-old's appointment caused a stir in Mexico, and raised concerns about just how qualified he was to take the job. Some of those were dispelled in his first news conference, when he opened up about his experience of migrating to the United States and building his coaching career from the bottom up. He even quoted Scottish poet George MacDonald.
It was a culture shock for the Mexican press corp, who had been accustomed to the high-octane press conferences of Miguel Herrera and brief turns from the frequently hilarious Ricardo "Tuca" Ferretti. Osorio, however, brings a new level of footballing intellect to Mexico.
In his first seven matches in charge -- in which Mexico has yet to concede a goal -- Osorio has used four different starting formations: 4-2-4, 5-3-2, 4-3-3 and 3-4-3 and has infused Mexico's play with ideas from Marcelo Bielsa and Pep Guardiola. He has even talked about the "moral value" of Mexico's play in taking risks playing out the back and attacking in numbers.
Former coach Herrera could be heard on one TV station during the Chile match criticizing Osorio for not fielding players in their normal position, but the Colombian sees the game very differently. He even has a book discussing his philosophy and his use of tactical periodization and juego de posición. Like with Herrera, the tinkering concerns some sections of the Mexican press and fans, as does the lack of a fixed best 11 or formation.
But, most importantly of all, there is a very definite sense that the players are buying into Osorio's idea, as Jorge Torres Nilo expressed in Friday's press conference in Phoenix and other players have said ahead of the tournament. Contrary to the idea that players prefer to know the day beforehand whether they will be playing or not, Torres Nilo said he likes the unknown, adding it gives the whole squad a sense of importance.
The arguments for Mexico aren't difficult to make, even if it will need some luck with injuries because of a comparative lack of depth in the squad compared to a country like Argentina.
Miguel Layun, Hector Moreno, Alfredo Talavera, Hector Herrera, Andres Guardado and, of course, Hernandez are in the prime of their career and desperate to make a mark on the international level; younger players like Hirving Lozano, Jesus "Tecatito" Corona and Jurgen Damm bring flair and pace; El Tri is in its second home of the United States and Osorio brings an extra edge to a national team.
Considering all that, don't be surprised if this Mexico side reach the final of this Copa America, or even goes and wins the thing.