CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Somewhere in the pre-match hoopla, you’ll find Hector Cortes.
He’s soaked in sweat. A Mexican national flag drapes down his back like a cape. He’s wearing a pair of powder blue-rimmed sunglasses and an iconic homemade Charlotte FC sombrero. When he stands, he’s an intimidating 6 feet, 5 inches with a build like a Carolina Panthers offensive lineman — but even now, as he sits at a peeling picnic table on a muggy August evening in uptown Charlotte, surrounded by friends and fans, he still maintains that larger-than-life look. He’s affable. Gregarious. The biggest man on campus.
They call him Sombrero Man.
