Fernando Hierro: “I hope Luis Enrique continues after the World Cup”

At 54 years old, Fernando Ruiz Hierro (Vélez, Málaga), a national icon who has traveled all the football paths, enjoyed a peaceful life in Madrid while waiting for some exciting project that would ignite his passion to return to the trenches. Several trains passed through his door but he didn’t get on one of them until interest arrived from Chivas de Guadalajara, a Latin American giant in decline for far too long, with an estimated 40 million fans between Mexico and the United States, but only a couple of titles won in the last two decades. The enormous challenge for him, as the new sports director, is to get him out of the mud and return him to the top with the handicap of not being able to sign foreign players due to the club’s philosophy. The Sacred Flock already has a new shepherd to guide it.

How have you been received in Guadalajara? Do they see you as a savior?

-No. People are very loving, but they know that we all have to work together. It is a responsibility that excites me and his philosophy of playing only with Mexicans motivates me a lot. It is the closest thing to a selection. It is a challenge.

It is a very big club that is going through a long losing streak and needs to get back on its feet immediately. Feel that pressure?

We don’t want to look back. Chivas has a very powerful structure at the sporting level and the support of many millions of fans. I’m going to help them grow and make them stronger.

You have had several interesting proposals lately, why did you choose the one from Chivas?

Basically because of the passion of its president, Amaury Vergara, a young man (35 years old) with a special vision of soccer. That has been the first reason and then to assume the challenge of leaving my comfort zone and reaching a new country and a new culture. I am very excited and in my first three weeks I have already got an idea of ​​how everything works and the dimension of the long-distance race that awaits us, because this is a two or three-year project although, obviously, we will not give anything away to no one on that road.

Are you clear on how to lift up a fallen and demoralized giant?

In my head, yes. I am clear about what has to be done and where we want to go, but here the ball commands. The project is very exciting and we also have a spectacular stadium that will host the 2026 World Cup. Everything about this new job motivates me

If you had to compare Chivas with a Spanish team based on its history, potential, infrastructure and fans, which would it be?

Due to its follow-up, demand and the passion it arouses, it is like Madrid in Spain. If we put aside the results of recent years, it is the closest thing there is to Madrid. He is a giant to whom we have to restore joy.

It has a great ideological similarity with Athletic Bilbao. Is playing only with Mexican soccer players a significant disadvantage to compete against clubs that have access to a global market?

That is a hallmark and I like it. It forces us to make more effort in the Mexican market and to carry out enormous tracking and recruiting work throughout the country because that will be the base of the club.

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Being able to exclusively sign Mexican players, it is striking that they have hired a sports director who does not know soccer in that country in depth. Which is the reason?

That is a question for the president. Surely they wanted to change course and were looking for something different. The idea is to start building for the future and leave an important legacy. People who come from abroad also succeed in Spain. There is a work plan drawn up and we must adapt quickly. We have not arrived to impose but to add. You have to do things intelligently and create an environment in which we all feel comfortable.

He has started to build the house from the foundations and has chosen Veljko Paunovic as coach. Why?

Especially out of self-confidence. Chivas has a very young average age of its players and Veljko moves well in that field because he was the Under-20 world champion coaching Serbia. He has also been working four years in MLS. Paunovic is in love with making young promises grow and that is another point in his favor. It was clear to me because he is in our same line.

Chivas’ great rival is America. Due to the expectation and passion that it generates, is this duel like a Clásico in Spain?

It is the closest thing, without a doubt. Also, we have a great local derby with Atlas. We could talk about a rivalry like Madrid-Barça with América, which is a huge club, and another with Atlas, which would be like the Madrid derby.

Here the one who is not going to play more Clásicos is Piqué, has his retirement surprised you a lot?

More than anything, I was surprised by the moment, the immediacy of his decision. He has been one of the best centre-backs in the world. The partnership that he has formed for a long time with Ramos has been unmatched. I wish him all the best in his life. I have known him for a long time and have had very enriching conversations with him. He is a very prepared boy and I am very fond of him.

Do you consider him one of the three best Spanish central defenders ever?

Yeah right if.

Who would the other two be?

Ramos and possibly Puyol.

And a certain Fernando Hierro?

Everything is a matter of taste. Manolo Sanchís would also have to be counted on, but the Piqué-Ramos tandem has been impressive and has a very long life.

Ancelotti said that Ramos should be in the World Cup…

I don’t like polemics but everyone knows what I think of Sergio. For me he is one of the best central defenders in the world or the best and I think he has been the best central defender in the entire history of Real Madrid. With this it is all said.

Madrid began overwhelming in the League and deflated with the setbacks against Leipzig, Girona and Rayo. Have there been players with their heads set on Qatar ahead of time?

That is a topic. A player is focused on the day to day of his club and is professional. We cannot confuse one thing with the other. The footballer can think about what is coming, if it is important, but he never loses his professionalism. I don’t think that is the reason.

You’ve been a midfielder apart from a central defender, what do you think of Valverde’s season?

When Madrid announced his signing, I was in Uruguay and Diego Forlán already told me about the diamond he was taking. He is a modern player, very physical, with tremendous hitting and confidence. He is the typical English boxer who has come of age and has managed to show his full potential, but he can still get a little more out of it.

Does it already put you at the level of the best midfielders in the world, as Kroos said?

Yes. For me there is no doubt. He has brought out his stride, his shot from outside the area, arrival from the second line, recovery… In the open field he enhances all his virtues. Fede has many good things and is in his moment.

What did you think when at the Ballon d’Or gala they named Real Madrid the third best club in the world behind Manchester City and Liverpool?

I laughed. The criteria is not clear. Why is this prize awarded? If it is for results, career, present, for what it represents or for history, for whatever, that award should have gone to Madrid. That does not mean that City is a great entity and that it plays with luxury, but Madrid deserved it.

How do you see the Champions League tie against Liverpool?

Very far. It’s a long time until I arrive. Liverpool may not be at their best, but we’ll see in a few months. It is a brave and complicated team. In any case, we already know that to be champion you have to beat the best, as Madrid did last season.

Another World Cup is coming. What memories come to mind of the convulsive start of Russia 2018, when you had to change a tie for a tracksuit from one day to the next? Did you suffer more than enjoy that championship?

It is something that had never happened before, but with the coldness and perspective that come with the passing of the years, I would do the same again. It was a complex situation, but I couldn’t afford the option of not accepting. I had been a player for the National Team for 13 years and a sports director for five. I thought about Spanish football. The easy thing would have been to say no, but I don’t regret the decision I made and if it happened now I would do the same thing again.

Where do you see our roof in Qatar?

We have a team in generational transition with a very marked leadership from a coach with personality and very clear ideas, who is going to play the same against all rivals. We will see a daring team, putting pressure on their opponents up front, coming up with many players in attack… For all of this, I see Spain in the group of candidates at the top.

Would reaching the semifinals be a success?

Only one wins the World Cup, nobody will remember the rest when it’s over. It’s hard but we can fight it, why not?

In 2010 he was sports director after having played several World Cups as a player. Can you describe in one word what he felt with Iniesta’s goal?

Rest. I said ‘finally, that’s it’. It was what we had been pursuing throughout our history. We were already European champions and we had a generation to close the circle. It was the moment

Would you like Luis Enrique to continue as coach after Qatar?

I wish. I’d love to. Apart from because I am very fond of him, because we were partners for many years. He is a great trainer. What I don’t know is if he would like day to day at a club more, but he seems to me a great coach and I would like him to continue in charge.