Mexico head coach Miguel Herrera has revealed that he left Javier Hernandez out of the Mexico starting lineup for last Friday's World Cup opener against Cameroon because he believes that the Manchester United striker has lost his confidence.

In years gone by Hernandez has been a key member of the Mexico team, but he fell out of favour at Old Trafford under the management of David Moyes, whereas he had been a regular starter under previous United boss Sir Alex Ferguson.

As a result, Herrera felt that he could not start the 26-year-old against the Africans and even though he was introduced as a second-half substitute, the Mexican boss insisted that he saw signs of nerves from the frontman.

"[Hernandez] had a difficult year because he had a different coach to the one that brought him to the club. [Ferguson] left and he had [Moyes]. He has an impressive market in Europe and I believe he has huge possibilities to be part of another team, being one of the starting players," Herrera told reporters.

"Sometimes people get heated up and carried away because they want to see Javier on the pitch but, with what we showed in the last match against Cameroon, people understand that we've decided to have 11 players that are going through their best time. When Javier went on, he started the move for the goal but he also passed when he might have shot."

Hernandez is expected to start among the substitutes again for tonight's encounter against hosts Brazil.

Written by
Liam Apicella