Mexico

Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez continues to surprise. The CONCACAF 2015 Player of the Year continues to shine in Europe, scoring a brace for Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga against Hannover Saturday.

The former super-sub turned super-starter at the German club is in great form, scoring his 13th goal in the league out of 16 appearances, demonstrating his importance to the German club and highlighting the reason why big clubs are looking to sign him during the winter transfer window. 

2015 is behind us and, even though El Tri shined throughout the past year, there was something missing in their matches: dominance. Even though El Tri once again reached the top of CONCACAF, many expected the team to do so in style and without hiccups. They had very few matches in 2015 in which they truly showed consistent quality. It was indeed a rollercoaster of a year for El Tri, with a dismal Copa America performance, a sluggish Gold Cup win and a nail-biter of a match against the Stars and Stripes to qualify for the Confederations Cup. El Tri saw it all in 2015.

Mexico National Team manager Juan Carlos Osorio has drawn the ire of the U.S. soccer community for saying a thing that is true.

Osorio said that he preferred his players, particularly those in their primes, to play in Europe because it is more competitive there.

From Excelsior:

Within the Mexican men’s national team, you’ll notice that there are two distinct groups that make up the team. The first group, “Los Europeos”, consist of players that are plying their trade throughout Europe. This group includes Bayer Leverkusen's Chicharito, Real Sociedad’s Carlos Vela and PSV’s Andres Guardado. Fans, coaches, media pundits, all put a lot of emphasis on the importance of this small band of players. Their importance to the national team is justified considering how difficult it is to succeed in the best leagues in the world.

Hector Moreno scored his first double for PSV Eindhoven, a week after scoring against Feyenoord in the Dutch league. Demonstrating incredible form, Moreno has turned a lot around ever since he signed for the Dutch champions. He couldn’t have done it without his fellow El Tri teammate, Andres Guardado pulling the strings from midfield.

Mexican striker Raul Jimenez has been what you'd call a "slow starter" so far during his time at Portuguese club Benfica. Jimenez, who joined Benfica during the summer from Atletico Madrid, has three goals in the Premeira Liga, two in the Champions League, and has added to his total with a goal (his second) in the Portuguese League Cup.

And it was a beauty. Right out of the "cheeky striker tricks" playbook.

Marco Fabian made his Bundesliga debut Sunday in Eintracht Frankfurt's 3-2 win over Wolfsburg. The Mexican winger proved to be effective down the left side, and had a positive effect on the game, setting up Alexander Meier's winner for Frankfurt in stoppage time.

Marco Fabian makes a big play on his Frankfurt debut and Meier seals his hat trick in the final minute to win it! https://t.co/zgV8574dWx

Chicharito has been lighting the Bundesliga up this season, which paved the way for his national team teammate Marco Fabian to transfer from Chivas Guadalajara to Eintracht Frankfurt. But will Fabian be as successful as the Little Pea? We may get our first indication Sunday.

Frankfurt take on Wolfsburg Sunday at 9:30 a.m. EST. 

It's been a good stretch for Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez recently, award-wise. He was named the Bundesliga Player of the Month for November, then named the Bundesliga Player of the Week for the first week of December.

And now he has been named CONCACAF's Best Male Player for 2015, beating out Costa Rica's Bryan Ruiz and fellow Mexican Andres Guardado.

Chicharito's biggest performance in a Mexico jersey came in Mexico's 3-2 win over the United States in the Confederations Cup playoff in October, in which he scored Mexico's first goal.

Carlos Vela is not having a good season for his club. Going into 2016, the Real Sociedad striker had only two goals to his name and hadn't scored since October.

It may be a good omen for Vela's 2016 that he ended his goal drought in Sociedad's 5-1 loss to Sporting Gijon Friday.