Exclusive: Hector Herrera ready to live his "American dream" with Houston Dynamo FC

Hector Herrera has made his intentions clear with Houston Dynamo FC – to win.

The anticipation of his arrival has been growing for months since the announcement of his pre-contract agreement to join MLS after the end of his time at Atletico Madrid. The Mexican national team star now has the opportunity to debut when the club hosts its bitter rival FC Dallas, looking to stop a two-match losing streak and move back up the Western Conference standings.

Could it have been scripted any better?

"It would be the ideal and perfect dream," Herrera said, smiling, in an interview with The Striker Texas on what it would mean to debut with a victory in the Texas Derby. "I think the most important thing is that the team wins, that the team generates that confidence, that we can get on track to reach the playoffs, which is the short-term objective."

Herrera touched down in the Bayou City last Wednesday and was greeted by dozens of Houston Dynamo fans, who waited almost two hours to see their new star outside the international arrivals exit at Bush Intercontinental Airport. On Friday, proclaimed Hector Herrera Day by the City of Houston, he was presented with pomp and circumstance in front of his new adoring public at a newly-opened downtown venue, POST Houston.

He was presented with a mural in another event exclusive to supporters groups, just blocks away from PNC Stadium, on Saturday afternoon. On Sunday night, he was presented at the stadium itself during halftime of the Houston Dynamo and Charlotte FC encounter – the last MLS match for the club prior to their new signing's potential debut.

"The truth is that I have no words to thank them for the way they have received me," Herrera said. "The affection that they have given me and my family. We are very grateful for the way they have received us and, what do I feel from them? The affection that they give you is just, there is no better thing that you can feel.

"I am here to work hard, to be able to give them those joys that they need and that we need. Obviously I believe, I think, that we have to work. We have to work hard as a team to be able to generate confidence between them and us and to be a strong team," he added. "I think they are going to be a very important part of this team and obviously we also have to give them a little bit of everything they give us."

A buzz befitting the signing

The buzz Herrera has created is every bit indicative of being the biggest signing in club history. He fits the profile of a bonafide Mexican star that fans have been asking for, arguably since the club's inception.

FC Dallas, in their time as the Dallas Burn, featured perhaps the biggest Mexican soccer legend there is in Hugo Sanchez. Cuauhtémoc Blanco, for one reason or another, did not land in Houston and instead became one of the most exciting Designated Player signings for the Chicago Fire.

The two Los Angeles teams have taken most of the talent in the modern era with Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez and Carlos Vela currently the face of either team. Herrera has already put Houston in the spotlight, drawing the most media the club has seen in recent years before even playing a single minute, and he wants to do something none of his fellow Mexican legends have done in MLS – lift the MLS Cup.

"With titles," Herrera responded to how he wants to be remembered in MLS. "I think that is the most important thing and that is why I am here."

"You have named players who are references at the highest level of Mexican soccer. I think that being the first Mexican to win things with Houston is something that makes me very excited and I hope to be here for many years," he continued. "I have always said it, that I am a player who does not want to change teams every year, every six months. And I have shown it. I spent six years at Porto and I think I've left my mark and I spent three years at Atletico Madrid, where I fulfilled my contract and I didn't stay any longer because I didn't want to, because life is like that. I would have been delighted, maybe, if I would have stayed longer and I think I have left my legacy still, not playing what I expected. 

"I'm here to make my own history. I want to leave my mark here at the club and to be able to stay here for many years. I believe a lot in the project, in the people who are here and I believe that the only way to achieve important things is through teamwork," he added.

Herrera has a prime opportunity in front of him — a dream scenario.

Straight into the Copa

His first home match comes against FC Dallas, but the team will have a short turnaround for Herrera's first away match next Tuesday, against none other than the other Texas team in MLS, Austin FC. 

Houston lost 2-1 in Frisco in April, meaning they need a victory in Herrera's debut to win the derby and El Capitan. The club needs a victory over each of its rivals from the Lone Star State to keep their Copa Tejas hopes alive.

You think Herrera hasn't thought about what that would mean?

"It would give the team extra confidence for the end of the season towards the playoffs," said Herrera about potentially winning back-to-back Copa Tejas matches. "Above all, because I think that here in Texas they are very proud and very patriotic. They carry very much what it's like to be a Texan, what it's like to be Houston, what it's like to be Dallas, to be Austin. And I think that would be a nice trophy to have at home for our people."

When the Dynamo and Pachuca faced off in epic international encounters in the Concacaf Champions Cup, when it was later renamed the Champions League and the predecessor to the Leagues Cup, known as the SuperLiga, Herrera was a young man in the Tuzos youth system. GM Pat Onstad, the man who signed Herrera to the Dynamo, was a goalkeeper for Houston.

"I was talking about it with Pat when he was in Madrid. When he was a player, he faced Pachuca many times and he said that they were difficult matches," he said. "It was the team that, when I was in the youth system, I used to say 'I will never play in the First Division, it is impossible. There are players that. Where am I going to play? In Chaco's position. Impossible. In Chilindrina's position? Impossible.'

"I would say where am I going to play? In the position of Chaco or Gabriel Caballero? There was no way I would play. Now I can think about it, but at the time it was impossible for me to play there. I would finish training and I would go watch them train because it was a very high quality team. And it was unbelievable," he shared.

Earlier in his life, Herrera nearly crossed the border permanently to the United States in search of the American dream that many immigrants go in search of. To prosper, to spark a life change, to attain a better future.

After being found on the West coast of Mexico, he climbed up the ranks at Pachuca and became one of the most successful Mexican exports to Europe. During his time at Porto and Atletico Madrid, he garnered the most UEFA Champions League appearances by an El Tri player, on top of winning a league title in each club.

Now his career brings him to the states a different man, an accomplished veteran in his craft and an example for younger players to follow. For the Houston Dynamo, they get a game-changing signing the team has needed.

"When I was starting to play, when not everything was clear, if I was going to play in the First Division, if I had a chance, if I didn't have a chance," Herrera said. "Today I have the opportunity to come to the American dream and in another way. In another situation. For me, it's a dream to be able to be here and to be able to live in the United States. To come to this club. To be able to make history in this club."