Raúl Jiménez

Raúl Jiménez

Raúl Jiménez playing for Mexico in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Raúl Alonso Jiménez Rodríguez[1]
Date of birth	(1991-05-05) 5 May 1991
Place of birth	Tepeji, Hidalgo, Mexico
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	América
Number	9
Youth career
1999–2010	América
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2010–	América	75	(26)
National team‡
2012	Mexico U23	13	(1)
2013–	Mexico	20	(4)
Honours Competitor for  Mexico Men's Football Olympic Games Gold 2012 London Team Competition
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18 January 2014. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20 November 2013

Raúl Alonso Jiménez Rodríguez (born 5 May 1991) is a Mexican footballer who currently plays as a striker for América in the Liga Bancomer MX.

He began his career with América's youth system before debuting in October 2011, and winning his first league championship almost two years later. Jiménez was also a part of the Mexican squad that won the gold medal at the Summer Olympics in 2012, along with former América teammate Diego Reyes.

Club career

América

2011–12 season

Jiménez came through the youth academy of América and was considered one of the their most promising young players. He debuted under interim coach Alfredo Tena during the Apertura 2011 tournament. He made his senior team debut on 9 October 2011 as a starter in a league match against Monarcas Morelia which ended in a 1–1 draw at the Estadio Azteca.^[2] He was given the shirt number 47. He scored his first official goal on 30 October 2011 against Puebla in the second minute in a 2–3 loss.^[3]

Jiménez scored his second goal for América on 9 March 2012, during the Clausura 2012 in a match against Tijuana, which ended in a 1–1 draw.^[4]

2012–13 season

After participating with the Mexico under-23 squad at the 2012 London Olympics, Jiménez won a spot in América's starting eleven, playing as a second-striker along with Christian Benítez in manager Miguel Herrera's tactical scheme. He was also given the then-vacant number 9 shirt.

International career

Mexico U23

In 2012 Raúl Jiménez was selected by coach Luis Fernando Tena to participate in the 2012 Toulon Tournament with the under-23 national team. Mexico won the final after defeating Turkey 3–0. Jiménez managed to score Mexico's third goal in the 4–2 victory over the Netherlands in the semi-finals on 30 May. Raúl Jiménez eventually made the final cut in the squad participating in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.^[5] He made his Olympic debut in the group stage match against South Korea on 26 July 2012, which ended in a 0–0 draw, with Jiménez coming in as a substitute and coming close to scoring a late goal, with the ball ricocheting off the goalkeeper's left-hand post.^[6] He subsequently made appearances against Switzerland,^[7] Senegal,^[8] Japan,^[9] and Brazil in the final, coming on as a substitute in those matches. Mexico would go on to defeat Brazil 2–1 and win the gold medal.^[10]

Mexico national team

Jiménez made his debut for the senior national team in a 1–1 draw against Denmark on 30 January 2013, coming on as a second-half substitute.^[11] Jiménez participated with Mexico in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup held in Brazil. He also participated in the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup held in the United States, in which he managed to score two goals (against Canada and Trinidad & Tobago on 11 and 20 July, respectively).

Jiménez scored his third international goal on 11 October in a World Cup qualifying match against Panama at the Estadio Azteca. He entered the match as a late second-half substitute, replacing Jesús Zavala. After receiving a pass from Fernando Arce, Jiménez lifted the ball up and performed a bicycle kick with his back facing the goal, giving Mexico the 2–1 victory.

Career statistics

Club

As of 18 January 2014^[12]

International

As of 20 November 2013

Honours

Club

América

• Liga MX (1): Clausura 2013

International

Mexico U23

• Summer Olympics (1): 2012
• Toulon Tournament (1): 2012

Style of play

Jiménez is known as a "supporting striker", or "second striker", rather than a regular goal-scorer, creating plays with former teammate Christian Benítez in manager Miguel Herrera's 5–3–2 system. His strengths are being able to pick a pass and provide assists to his teammates.

References

External links

• Transfermarkt profile
• MedioTiempo Profile
• IMScouting Profile
• ESPN Profile

Mexico squads v t e Mexico men's football squad – 2012 Summer Olympics – Gold Medalists 1 Corona 2 I. Jiménez 3 Salcido 4 Mier 5 Chávez 6 Herrera 7 Cortés 8 Fabián 9 Peralta 10 dos Santos 11 Aquino 12 R. Jiménez 13 Reyes 14 Enríquez 15 Vidrio 16 Ponce 17 Araujo 18 Rodríguez Coach: Tena v t e Mexico squad – 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup 1 Ochoa 2 Rodríguez (c) 3 Salcido 4 Reyes 5 Molina 6 Torrado 7 Barrera 8 Reyna 9 de Nigris 10 dos Santos 11 Aquino 12 Corona 13 Meza 14 Hernández 15 Moreno 16 Herrera 17 Zavala 18 Guardado 19 Jiménez 20 Torres Nilo 21 Mier 22 Flores 23 Talavera Coach: de la Torre v t e Mexico squad – 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup semi-finalists 1 J. E. Orozco 2 I. Jiménez 3 López 4 Huiqui (c) 5 Chávez 6 Peña 7 Cortés 8 Montes 9 R. Jiménez 10 Fabián 11 Márquez Lugo 12 Talavera 13 Aldrete 14 Enríquez 15 Velarde 16 Ponce 17 Brizuela 18 Valenzuela 19 Layún 20 Pereira 21 J. A. Orozco 22 Castro 23 Muñoz 24 Cárdenas Coach: de la Torre