Cubo picks up Chicharito's mantle at Chivas

It's hardly a secret that Guadalajara Chivas have missed a real goalscorer since Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez left for the cold climes of Manchester in April 2010. It's taken a lot of shuffling and trying out different players but Chivas fans around town believe Erick 'Cubo' Torres, an 18-year-old striker from Guadalajara, is showing all the right signs of filling the huge hole.




In last Saturday's game against Queretaro, Torres scored both goals for Chivas in a 2-0 victory taking his tally up to five with the first team. The first goal showed a great deal of composure. Torres took down a cross on his chest taking it past the last defender and, as the ball fell, he coolly slotted it inside the Queretaro goalkeeper's near post.

His second goal was class too: an unlikely header from the 1.83 meter striker that he guided into the top corner despite sustained pressure from a defender. After it, Torres ran over to the Chivas fans kissing the badge.

The week before against bitter city rivals Atlas, another gesture to the crowd got Torres sent off. After scoring the opening goal in the game early on Torres made a hand sign to the crowd that the referee interpreted as raising the middle finger to the Atlas fans. In fact, Torres gave the sign of a Chivas porra (fan group) to the Chivas fans in celebration and his ban was later revoked.

The incident combined with scoring against Atlas has turned him into a supporter favourite already for Guadalajara Chivas.

Inside the club there are those who think Torres can be even better than Hernandez and that he is even more focused on what he wants to achieve. His youth record speaks for itself. Torres entered the Chivas U-17 team when he was just 15 years old and was always one step ahead of his contemporaries. He has scored bucket-loads of goals at every level since joining Chivas as a small child. Fast, good with both feet and in the air, a natural finisher and down to earth, it's no wonder Torres gets the Chicharito comparison a lot.

"It's very early (to say I'm the heir to Chicharito)," Torres told the press after the Queretaro game. "I'm only just starting."

As he said, it is early days in Torres career but you can bet European scouts are already sniffing around Guadalajara's latest striking talent. A call up to the Copa America squad (where Mexico will play with mainly U-22 year-old players) and Torres' stock is likely to rise yet more.