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| Source=Raul Jimenez SNS Capture |
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| AFP Yonhap News |
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| AFP Yonhap News |
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Mexico's flagship striker Raul Jimenez (34, Fulham) is enjoying his second heyday.
Jimenez led Mexico to a 2-1 victory by scoring multiple goals, including the winning goal, in the 2024-2025 North American Football Confederation (CONCACAF) Nations League (CNL) final against Panama at SoFi Stadium in California on the 24th (Korea time). Jimenez, who scored the first goal with a sensational header in the 8th minute of the first half, equalized with a penalty kick to Adalvertu Karaskya in the 2nd minute of the first half, and scored 'Winning Goal' with a penalty kick in the 2nd minute of the second half, which was 1-1 tight.
Mexico won its first CNL, which began in 2021, thanks to Jimenez's performance with a combined five goals. The U.S., the host country led by former Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino, suffered a humiliation of being eliminated after losing to Panama in the semifinals. He also lost face to Canada in the 3-4th place match. Fourth place is the worst report card for the U.S., which won titles in 2021, 2023, and 2024.
Jimenez enjoyed the best moment of his national career by sweeping the top scorer and the most valuable player of the tournament. He said the team changed after 'Vasco' (a nickname for Javier Aguirre) was reappointed. Coach Aguirre, who coached Lee Kang-in in Mallorca, took the helm of Mexico in July last year.
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| AFP Yonhap News |
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| ReutersYonhap News |
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Jimenez's "Crazy Performance" in this competition is natural in a way.
He succeeded in a perfect revival this season by scoring 10 goals in the English Premier League and 12 goals (33 matches), including the Cup, in his Fulham uniform. It is the first time in five years that Jimenez has scored double-digit points in the EPL since the 2019-2020 season, when he scored 17 goals for his former team Wolverhampton.
Jimenez has since slowly lost his place at Wolverhampton due to a serious head injury and sluggishness. From the 2020-2021 season to the 2022-2023 season, he played a total of 59 games and scored only 10 goals. There were more goals scored during the 2019-2020 season when he joined Wolverhampton.
Jimenez, who scored only 0 goals in the league in the 2022-2023 season, moved to Fulham as if he were kicked out. The transfer fee was £5.5 million. Wolverhampton gives Hwang Hee-chan 'Ace' position as shares rise.
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| ReutersYonhap News |
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Jimenez, who set the stage for a rebound with seven league goals in the 2023-2024 season, scored three consecutive league goals in September last year and achieved his 50th EPL personal goals. He became the third Mexican player to score more than 100 goals on the European stage after Hugo Sanchez and Javier Hernandez.
As of the 29th round, Fulham is also in eighth place with 12 wins, 9 draws, 8 losses and 45 points. This is contrary to Wolverhampton (26 points), who is in 17th place, which is on the fringes of the relegation zone. Hwang Hee-chan, who scored 12 league goals in the 2023-2024 season and shot 'Career High', was engulfed in a slump with only two goals (18 games) in the aftermath of his injury this season.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
