Lucas Hernández: 10 things | OneFootball

10 things on serial-winning France defender Lucas Hernández

Lucas Hernández arrived at Bayern Munich with a 2018 FIFA World Cup winners’ medal around his neck, just one of numerous trophies he has won during a successful career - and he could add another UEFA Champions League to that haul with Paris Saint-Germain before the season is out...

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bundesliga.com trains the microscope on the France international defender, who can't stop winning...

1. Football is in his blood

It appears Hernández was destined to be a footballer. Sons of former Toulouse and Marseille centre-back Jean-Francois Hernández, both Lucas and younger brother Théo have gone on to play professionally at the highest level of the game.

The Hernández boys emerged from Atletico Madrid’s academy, and have each gone on to, respectively, lift the UEFA Champions League for Bayern (Lucas) and Real Madrid (Théo).

That's Lucas Hernández under the UEFA Champions League trophy after becoming the second family member to be crowned king of Europe. (MANU FERNANDEZ/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

"My brother is a pure left-back and much stronger than me offensively," Lucas previously explained of the pair’s comparative playing style. "But I'm a better defender, no contest!"

2. Life hasn’t always been straightforward

Jean-Francois may have been a player of some renown but hasn’t played any role in his children’s subsequent emergence, having left the family without further contact while Hernández was "five or six-years-old."

"People who don’t know our story think it’s thanks to him that they became footballers, but that has nothing to do with it," explained Lucas’ mother, Laurence Py, while Lucas added: "I didn’t have a normal childhood. I lived without a father, just with my mother and brother, especially when we were in Spain.

"My mother didn’t work and we didn’t have any money, that’s the truth. It’s my grandfather who got us out of a hole. I have experienced tough times in my life, and I have always stood up and been strong mentally. That’s what got me to where I am today."

Lucas Hernández emerged from Atletico Madrid's youth academy alongside brother Theo. (GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images)

3. Hernandez loves to fish

Hernandez credits his grandfather as a major influence on his life, and it was him that introduced young Lucas to fishing.

"I’ve been fishing since I was a child," he told The Guardian about his love affair with the sport that continued during down time in Munich, where he discovered the perfect spot to unwind with rod and bait.

"I just love that and I found paradise here," he continued. "I even discovered amazing spots rich in pike, pike-perch and trout, the local speciality."

4. He could have played for Spain

Having moved to Spain as a two-year-old, and after spending so much of his life in the country, it’s little wonder that Hernández identifies so much with the country.

Lucas Hernández could have played for Spain before choosing France. (Eric Alonso)

"My musical and cooking tastes, except cheese which has to be French, are very much Spanish," he continued in The Guardian. "My wife, Amelia, is Spanish and my son, Martin, was born in Madrid, two weeks after the World Cup. When I’m in Spain, I feel Spanish. But when I’m in France, I feel French."

Hernández could even have represented La Roja, rather than Les Blues, but - having played for France’s youth sides from U16-U21 - he opted for the latter in 2018, on the eve of that year’s World Cup in Russia.

5. He’s a World Cup winner

Any doubt over his allegiance was alleviated by coach Didier Deschamps and long-time friend Antoine Griezmann, who said he "put [Hernández] under pressure" to commit to France.

"When I said I was ready to play for Spain, I didn’t have any news from France," Hernández explained when called up for the first time in March 2018, just three months before the start of the World Cup. "But when Didier Deschamps called me to find out about my situation, I didn’t hesitate for a minute, not even 30 seconds."

Lucas Hernández (r.) became a world champion alongside Kylian Mbappé (l.) with France in 2018. (2018 Getty Ihttps://img.bundesliga.com/tachyon/sites/2/2019/03/GettyImages-999541696.jpg?crop=0px,200px,4355px,2448pxmages)

Hernández would go on to feature at left-back in all seven of France’s matches in Russia, teeing up Kylian Mbappe for the side’s fourth goal that ultimately helped secure a 4-2 victory in the final as the then 22-year-old became a world champion in just his 12th international appearance.

6. He also has a French Legion of Honour

As a result of his World Cup heroics, Hernandez and his France teammates were awarded the Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur, or French Legion of Honour, in 2019.

The squad were given France’s highest order of merit by president Emmanuel Macron, shortly after Hernández had sealed his move to Bayern.

7. Diego Simeone played major role in his development

Hernandez’s breakthrough at Atlético was overseen by Diego Simeone, and the legendary Argentine had a substantial impact on moulding the world-class player.

It was Diego Simeone who handed Lucas Hernández his first-team debut for Atletico Madrid. (2018 Getty Images)

"I've grown with him," said Hernández, who joined Atlético in 2007 - four years before Simeone took charge - and was handed his first-team debut by the coach at 18. "He’s the one who brought me from the junior teams to the first team. Ever since I've been with him, he's instilled in me that if you want to succeed in life, you have to fight, you have to give everything, you have to work in every training session."

"He's always worked and he has always wanted to improve," explained Simeone. "Above all, and what is most important for me, is that he’s not afraid. A player who isn’t afraid to play well or badly is never a problem."

8. Raphaël Varane and Sergio Ramos are his idols

It may be the Atlético half of the Madrid divide that most holds a place in Hernández’s heart, but he has named long-time Real pair Raphaël Varane and Sergio Ramos as his idols.

Often seen operating on the left side of defence for club and country, Hernández’s preferred position, like that of his heroes, is at centre-back but he sees the benefit of being able to operate in different roles.

As Hernéndez put it himself: "I’m used to playing left now but I can play in both positions, so I have no problem switching from one role to the other, even within the same game."

9. Bayern were even better when he played

Incredibly, Hernández lost only five of 74 Bundesliga appearances since joining Bayern in 2019, winning 60 times in Germany, and that tally could have been even higher had he not missed 47 top-flight matches through injury.

And you can hardly lay blame at his door for the first Bayern defeat with Hernández in the side; a 2-1 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt on Matchday 22 of 2020/21, in which the defender made an eight-minute cameo at the death, with the score already 2-1 in Die Adler’s favour.

Across a combined 107 outings in all competitions for the record Bundesliga champions, Hernández was on the losing side on just nine occasions.

10. He’s a serial winner

With that kind of record, it’s easy to see why Hernández - who moved to PSG in the summer of 2023 - has already become a serial winner.

He has 19 major trophies to his name, a number well bulked by Bayern’s historic sextuple in 2020 that marked the end of an emphatic first season at the club.

Hernández’s mantlepiece includes four Bundesliga titles, a World Cup triumph and a Champions League winner's medal. Before the 2024/25 term is out, he could add another two to his collection, with PSG in both the Coupe de France and Champions League finals. There just seems to be no stopping the versatile defender as he looks to hoover up as many medals as possible.

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