Poland and Mexico are competing on Day 3 in the Group C fixture of the FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar. Earlier, Argentina was stunned by Saudi Arabia’s victory by 2-1. Later on, Denmark and Tunisia faced each other, but the match resulted in a 0-0 draw.
The performance of Raul Jiminez, Mexico’s star player, is much awaited since the world will witness his comeback from injury he sustained three months ago.
Who is Raul Jimenez?
Raul Jimenez, the striker for Wolverhampton Wanderers, was born on May 5, 1991 in Tepeji Del Rio, Mexico. In 2008, Jimenez was recognized by Mexican Football Club, ‘Club América’ as one of their academy players.
He made his professional debut from Club America as a forward on October 9, 2011, where he played against Monarcas Morelia in the Apertura (summer) tournament. Jimenez scored his first goal in his professional career later on in October against Puebla.
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Jimenez was a part of the Mexican squad for 2012 London Olympics, playing his first match as a substitute South Korea in the group stages. Mexico went on to secure a gold medal after defeating Brazil in finals.
He was assigned a starting stop as one of the two front men in Club América’s 5-3-2 formation in the 2012-2013 Liga BBVA MX season. He displayed an impressive performance, scoring 4 goals in 2012 Apertura, and scoring 8 goals in the Clausura phase of the tournament.
His score against Panama in the qualifier round helped Mexico qualify for the 2014 World Cup, thus confirming his spot in Mexico’s 23-man squad for the event.
After playing for Club America against Tigres UANL on August 9, 2014, he completed his transfer to Spanish League giants, Atlético Madrid. His debut season was not impressive, as he only managed to score one goal the entire season.
He chose to sign a contract from Benfica, a club in the Portuguese league, for five years, even after getting an offer from West Ham, an English Premier Club. Jimenez had a good start playing for Benfica, helping his team reach the quarter-finals for Champions league. That season, Benfica won both the League and Portuguese League Cup, and Jimenez remained the top score in the latter.
On June 12, 2018, he signed a season-long loan with Wolverhampton, an English Premier League team. He was Wolverhampton’s most prolific goal scorer with 17 goals and 8 assists in the 2018–19 campaign. He scored 22 goals and added 7 assists throughout that season across all competitions.
Jimenez suffered from a groin injury in 2022 in a pre-season against Besiktas. His return to FIFA World Cup 2022 has been awaited by fans, who are looking forward to see him once again on field.
