Striker Hernandez benched for Mexico opener

Natal: Javier "Little Pea" Hernandez, Mexico`s third most prolific international goalscorer of all time, has been left out of the starting line-up for Friday`s World Cup opener against Cameroon at Dunas arena.

Hernandez had a disappointing season for Manchester United and coach Miguel Herrera has, as expected, preferred the partnership of Oribe Peralta and Giovani dos Santos to start up front in the Group A match.  "The competition is very tough," Herrera told a news conference at the stadium on Thursday.  "The team that started against Portugal made me very happy on the offensive. There was good chemistry between Dos Santos and Oribe." Mexico lost 1-0 to Portugal in a World Cup warm-up in Foxborough, Massachusetts last week. Goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa played the second half as a substitute and did enough to earn the starting spot ahead of Jose Corona, who had started the match against the Portuguese. "I have three goalkeepers, it was a very difficult decision," added Herrera. "It was a decision of the whole technical team and we decided to go with Ochoa." Mexico team: 13-Guillermo Ochoa; 4-Rafael Marquez; 2-Francisco Javier Rodriguez; 15-Hector Moreno; 22-Paul Aguilar; 7-Miguel Layun; 23-Jose Juan Vazquez; 18-Andres Guardado; 6-Hector Herrera; 10-Giovani Dos Santos; 19-Oribe Peralta.