Miguel “El Piojo” Herrera is an insane person in good times and in bad. He oscillates from his flamboyant expressions and gesticulations on the bench to punching journalists at airports. Though he’s had a memorable 30-year career, El Piojo may be remembered more for his fights with refs, players, and coaches. His over-the-top outbursts and contagious optimism make him an attention-grabbing figure. (Don’t believe us, then check out how many posts we’ve been able to crank out about him in one day.)
From his happy times to his fall from grace, here are the most representative El Piojo moments.
Herrera first debuted as a professional player in 1985 on a second division team called the Coyotes, and in 1989, he was signed by Atlante, where fans baptized him with the nickname “El Piojo.” It was in 1992 when he kicked someone who invaded the pitch during an interview.
Herrera made the national team heading to the 1994 World Cup, only to be expelled before he could ever set foot in the United States. While playing an elimination round against Honduras in Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium, he kicked the rival team’s forward Dolmo Flores and coach Miguel Mejía Barón punished him by booting him off the roster.
In 1995, he switched to Toros Neza, where he played on a beautiful team but lost a lot of games. Can’t forget that time when he wore masks or crazy hats.
El Piojo is almost always starting something. This is surprisingly not one of those times, but in 1997, he was involved in this fight between Mexico and Jamaica, which included most of the players from both teams.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPZaQgbeW38
El Piojo also starred in a few commercials. Instant classics.
This was just a taste of what was to come. In 2012, Daniel Ipata and El Piojo argued on the field of an América-Cruz Azul game. Reporters say that they ended up getting into a fist fight when the cameras weren’t around.
Quite possibly the best use of Spanglish. “No understand, mis pelotas,” El Piojo told a journalist after he wasn’t able to get his message across.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgjGAjuP3dI
Say what you want about him, but no one can celebrate quite like El Piojo.
Yeah, this didn’t work out too well for him.