Abel Mathías Hernández Platero (born 8 August 1990) is a Uruguayan professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

Uruguayan Primera División The Liga Profesional de Primera División (American Spanish , , local: , ''First Division''), named "Torneo Uruguayo Copa Coca-Cola" for sponsorship reasons, is the highest professional Association football, football league in Uruguay organized b ...

club Liverpool Montevideo. Hernández began his career with

Central Español Central Español Fútbol Club, usually known simply as Central Español is a Uruguayan football club based in Montevideo. History The F.U.F era Together with Peñarol, Central founded FUF (Uruguayan football federation) in 1923 after being expel ...

and

Peñarol Club Atlético Peñarol (), more commonly referred to as Peñarol, is a Uruguayan professional football club based in Montevideo. The club currently competes in the Uruguayan Primera División, the highest tier in Uruguayan football. The nam ...

, and spent five and a half seasons in Italy with

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

before joining

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

for a club record £10 million in September 2014. Four years later, he joined

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

, and upon his release signed for Al Ahli in 2019. After was released by the Qatari club a year later, he moved to Brazil, first joining

Internacional Sport Club Internacional (), commonly known as Internacional, Inter de Porto Alegre, a cidade do Grêmio or simply Inter, is a Brazilian professional football club based in Porto Alegre. They play in the Série A, the first division of the ...

and later on

Fluminense Fluminense Football Club () is a Brazilian sports club based in the neighbourhood of Laranjeiras, in Rio de Janeiro, being the oldest football club in the state since its foundation in 1902. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, th ...

. Now he joined

CR Vasco da Gama Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama (; English: Vasco da Gama Club of Rowing), commonly referred to as Vasco da Gama or simply Vasco, is a sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Although originally a rowing club and then a multi-sport club, Va ...

. A full international since 2010, Hernández has competed at various international tournaments with Uruguay, including their victory at the

2011 Copa América The 2011 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, better known as the 2011 Copa América or the Copa América 2011 Argentina, was the 43rd edition of the Copa América, the main international association football, football tournament for national ...

Club career

Early career

Nicknamed ''La Joya'', he started his professional career with Uruguayan side

, immediately scoring five goals in his first four games. He was subsequently acquired by

, where he played a handful of games and also gained a spot into the Under-20

Uruguayan Uruguayans () are people identified with the country of Uruguay, through citizenship or descent. Uruguay is home to people of different ethnic origins. As a result, many Uruguayans do not equate their nationality with ethnicity, but with citizen ...

side.

Palermo

On 2 February 2009, Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club

completed the signing of Hernández, where he joined fellow Uruguayan

Edinson Cavani Edinson Roberto Cavani Gómez (; born 14 February 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Argentine Primera División club Boca Juniors. Nicknamed "El Matador" (The Bullfighter), he is considered as one of the ...

. He was presented by Palermo only one month later, due to some health concerns regarding a

cardiac arrhythmia Arrhythmias, also known as cardiac arrhythmias, are irregularities in the heartbeat, including when it is too fast or too slow. Essentially, this is anything but normal sinus rhythm. A resting heart rate that is too fast – above 100 beat ...

that led to a small surgical intervention. He made his first team debut on 15 March, replacing

in the final minutes of a 5–2 home win to

Lecce Lecce (; ) is a city in southern Italy and capital of the province of Lecce. It is on the Salentine Peninsula, at the heel of the Italian Peninsula, and is over two thousand years old. Because of its rich Baroque architecture, Lecce is n ...

. He then won the

Trofeo Giacinto Facchetti Campionato Primavera 1, known also as Campionato Primavera 1 TIM Group, TIM – Trofeo Giacinto Facchetti due to sponsorship and posthumous honour, is an Italian association football, football youth competition. It was created in 2017–18 season ...

with the ''Primavera'' under-19 team in June 2009. After missing the initial weeks of the

2009–10 Serie A The 2009–10 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 108th season of top-tier Italian football, the 78th in a round-robin tournament. There were three promoted teams from the Serie B, replacing the three teams that w ...

due to injury and his participation in the

2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which was hosted by Egypt from 24 September to 16 October 2009. The tournament was initially going to take place between 10 and 31 July. However, the 2009 FIFA Confede ...

. Hernández played his first game on 29 October 2009. Coming on as a half-time substitute for

Cristian Melinte Cristian Costel Melinte (born 9 May 1988) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a full back. Club career He began his career at Fortuna Covaci, but just some months later he went to play for Auxerre Lugoj in Liga II. Then he joined ...

, he scored in the 5–3 loss to league leaders

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Since 1 ...

. In

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, Hernández scored only 1 goal in 14 league matches as Palermo suffered relegation. He equalised as a substitute against

Udinese Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sport ...

in the 81st minute of a home match on 8 May, only for

Medhi Benatia Medhi Amine El Mouttaqi BenatiaThough the traditional Arabic spelling is "Mehdi", he spells his name "Medhi". See, for examplehis Twitter accountfollowing campaign, he struck 14 times in 28

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

games as the

Sicilians Sicilians () are a European ethnographic group who are indigenous to Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean, as well as the largest and most populous of the autonomous regions of Italy. History The Sicilian people are indigenous to ...

returned to the top flight, netting braces in away victories over

Padova Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of ...

and

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

, both of which included a penalty kick.

Hull City

Hernández signed for English club

on 1 September 2014 for a club record £10 million on a three-year contract, with the club having an option for a fourth year. Two weeks later he made his debut at the

KC Stadium The MKM Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Kingston upon Hull, England. It has a current capacity of 25,586. The stadium is home to both association football club Hull City A.F.C. of the EFL Championship and rugby league club Hull F.C. of ...

, and scored the first goal of a 2–2 draw with

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

. In his next home game against

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

on the 27th, he won a penalty after being fouled in the area by

Eliaquim Mangala Eliaquim Hans Mangala (born 13 February 1991) is a French professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Primeira Liga club Estoril. Born in France, he moved to Belgium as a child and began his career there at Standard Liège, going ont ...

, and scored it in an eventual 2–4 defeat. His next goal came when he put his team into the lead during a 2–2 away draw against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. Hull were relegated on 24 May 2015 after a goalless draw with

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

on the final day of the season. During the match, Hérnandez punched United defender Phil Jones in an off-the-ball incident, not seen by match officials. Two days later, he was charged with violent conduct by

The Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

and subsequently given a three-match ban. On 16 January 2016, in a Championship match against

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

, Hernández scored his first club career hat-trick in a game that finished 6–0, taking his league tally to 14 goals for the season. With six goals in four matches, he won January's Football League Championship Player of the Month, and his manager

Steve Bruce Stephen Roger Bruce (born 31 December 1960) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who was a centre-back in a twenty-year playing career. He is currently the head coa ...

won

the equivalent The Equivalent was a sum negotiated at £398,085 10s. 0d. () paid to Scotland by the English Government under the terms of the Acts of Union 1707. Proposals for it first emerged in the course of abortive Union negotiations in 1702 to 1703. The E ...

. At the club's annual awards, held on 3 May 2016, Hernández was named Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year. In January 2017, Hernández missed two penalties in the space of two minutes in a

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

fourth round match verses

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

. His first spot kick was saved by Fulham goalkeeper

Marcus Bettinelli Marcus Bettinelli (born 24 May 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Manchester City. Club career Fulham Early life and career Bettinelli was born in Camberwell, Greater London. He started his career wi ...

before Bettinelli brought-down Hernández while he attempted to reach the rebound. Hernández stepped up once more and was again denied by Bettinelli. During the 2017–18 season, Hernández ruptured his

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcane ...

against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

, the injury would keep Hernandez out for several months. He returned from injury on 6 March 2018 against

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

, scoring in a 2–1 defeat. He finished the season with eight goals in just ten appearances. Hernández was offered a new contract by Hull at the end of the 2017–18 season. However, on 4 June, Hernández and Hull City announced he would be leaving the club upon his contract expiry after failing to reach an agreement on signing a new contract offer. He then held discussions with

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

over a potential move.

CSKA Moscow

On 1 August 2018,

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

club

announced the signing of Hernández on a three-year contract. He scored his first goal in Russia on 11 August 2018 in his second match in the league, converting the penalty kick to secure an away 1–1 draw against Yenisey Krasnoyarsk. In his next match, on 18 August, he scored again and provided an assist in a 3–0 victory over

Arsenal Tula FC Arsenal Tula () is a Russian professional football club from Tula playing in the second-tier Russian First League. Originally founded in 1923, FC Arsenal Tula was promoted to the Russian Premier League in 2014 for the first time in its histo ...

. He played as a 2nd half substitute in CSKA's shock 3–0 win against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

at the Santiago Bernabeu in the Champions League. The defeat was

's heaviest defeat in Europe at home in their history. After making only 15 appearances due to injuries, he was released from his contract by mutual consent on 27 May 2019.

Al Ahli

Hernández was linked with

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

after his release from the Russian capital, but instead signed for Al Ahli SC of the

Qatar Stars League The Qatar Stars League (; abbreviated as QSL), known as Ooredoo Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar football league system. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation wi ...

, believing that the move would help him back into the national team.

Internacional

On 28 August 2020, Hernández joined Campeonato Brasileiro club

on a free transfer, signing a one-year contract.

International career

On 27 July 2010, Hernández was called up for his debut with

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, a friendly against

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

. The game, which was played on 11 August, ended in a 2–0 win for Uruguay, with Hernández being fouled for the penalty, which was scored by

. Hernández then scored the second goal for the ''Celeste'' during injury time. He was part of the Uruguayan team which won the

in Argentina, making substitute appearances in their opening match and their semi-final victory, both against

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. He was chosen by

Óscar Tabárez Óscar Washington Tabárez Silva (; born 3 March 1947), known as ''El Maestro'' (The Teacher), is a Uruguayan former professional football manager and former player. After an unassuming career as a player and after working as a primary school ...

for the London 2012 Olympic

squad, making a half-time substitute appearance in the 0–2 defeat to

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

, in an eventual group stage exit. The following year, Hernández was selected for Uruguay's squad at the

2013 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup was the ninth FIFA Confederations Cup, which was held in Brazil from 15 to 30 June 2013 as a prelude to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The most recent winners of the six continental championships appeared in the tourn ...

. In his only appearance, the final group stage match against

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

, Hernández scored a first-half hat-trick and went on to become the fourth player in Confederations Cup history to score four goals in one match after converting a second-half penalty goal in Uruguay's 8–0 victory. He was named

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

for this performance. Hernández was also included in the Uruguayan squad for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

, making substitute appearances in their opener against

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

and round of 16 match against

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, both defeats. At the

2015 Copa América The 2015 Copa América was the 44th edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America, and took place in Chile between 11 June and 4 July 2015. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, ...

, he made one start and two substitute appearances as Uruguay reached the quarter-finals. Hernández who was a regular in his national team squads, had just recovered from injury towards the end of the 2017–18 season, missed out on a

2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting rights in l ...

squad place on 16 May 2018, with

Luis Suárez Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz (; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami CF, Inter Miami. Known for his go ...

Cristhian Stuani Cristhian Ricardo Stuani Curbelo (; born 12 October 1986) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker (association football), striker for and captain (association football), captains La Liga club Girona FC, Girona. He started ...

and

Maxi Gómez Maximiliano "Maxi" Gómez González (; born 14 August 1996) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a forward for Defensor Sporting and the Uruguay national team. Having begun his career with Defensor Sporting, he moved to Spain i ...

favoured ahead of him.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Uruguay's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Hernández goal.''

Honours

Palermo *

: 2013–14 Hull City *

Football League Championship play-offs The English Football League (EFL) Championship play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL Championship table and are part of the English Football League play-of ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Uruguay *

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Individual *

South American U-20 Championship The South American Youth Football Championship, also known as South American U-20 Championship (; ), branded as CONMEBOL Sub 20, is a South American football tournament organized by the CONMEBOL for South American national teams of men under age o ...

joint top scorer:

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

* Football League Championship Player of the Month: January 2016

References

External links