Giovanni Hernández

Early career

Giovanni Hernández made his professional debut at the age of 17 with Once Caldas in 1993. In 1995, he played for América de Cali and he scored 5 goals during this season. He continued playing for the club during the 1996 Copa Libertadores where he scored 2 goals. He played for Independiente Medellín during 1998. At the end of that year, he was signed by Deportivo Cali.

Deportivo Cali

He played for Deportivo Cali in the 1999 Copa Libertadores as a substitute, but after a few goals he became a starter for the 2001 season, where he scored 13 goals.

Colón

In the second half of 2003, Hernández was sold to Argentine club Colón de Santa Fe. In his debut match on 12 August, he scored a free kick goal and made an assist, in a 3–1 victory against Velez Sarsfield as part of the first stage of the 2003 Copa Sudamericana. He quickly became one of the favorites in the Argentine league, scoring a total of 12 goals that season.

Colo-Colo

On 15 January 2007, Hernandez joined Chilean club Colo-Colo on a one-year contract with a transfer fee of $800,000. He was brought in to replace the 2006 South American Player of the Year, Matías Fernández, and was handed the prestigious #10 jersey. He was a vital part of the team that would eventually win the 2007 Apertura championship, being the second top scoring of the team with 7 goals. Colo-Colo also won the 2007 Clausura, with Hernandez being part of the squad, and scoring 6 goals. At the end of the…

Hernández was called up to the Colombia national team for the 2001 Copa América, which they won. Colombia did not qualify for the 2002 FIFA World Cup but did qualify for the 2003 Confederations Cup where he was called up again. Giovanni scored 3 goals in 5 games and he was considered one of the best players of the tournament. He played in the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup with a lacklustre performance, not scoring a single goal. After a three-year absence from the Colombia national team, Giovanni was recalled for the match against Mexico on 22 August 2007.

International goals

He was part of the group of Deportivo Cali players that was struck by lightning in 2002, spending some time in the ICU, but made a full recovery. In September 2010, it was reported that Hernandez failed to pay approximately 865,000 pesos ($215,000) to the Argentine government while he was playing for Colon in 2005.