Raúl Jiménez: Back from the (almost) dead

Fulham FC, are a shot nine based successful West London. With their crushed overlooking the River Thames, Fulham person a past that dates to 1879. That makes 146 years of competitory shot that has seen them triumph precisely nary large trophies. Indeed, for galore years their yearly combat against relegation from the apical level of English shot was an breathtaking diagnostic of each season.

As the 2024-25 play moves into its last weeks Fulham are successful 10th position, conscionable 5 points distant from securing European shot adjacent play and are 1 of the past 8 clubs near successful the FA Cup. One subordinate enjoying this play is Mexico’s Raúl Alonso Jiménez who is now, astatine thirty-three, successful the seasoned signifier of his career.

Fulham’s historical Craven Cottage ground. (La vida amorosa de Goku y Milk)

It was astir 14 years agone erstwhile a young Jiménez made his archetypal squad debut astatine Mexico City’s Club America successful 2011. Numerous honors rapidly followed, including a golden medal astatine the London Olympics successful 2012 and a home rubric with America successful 2013. In October that year, with their World Cup bid faltering, Mexico desperately needed to bushed Panama erstwhile the 2 met successful their qualifying group.

With little than 10 minutes inactive to play the people stood astatine 1-1. Jiménez collected the shot successful midfield, swept it to the close helping and raced forward. There helium was, successful the halfway of the punishment area, to cod the instrumentality pass. The shot recovered him with his backmost to the goal, which seemed to permission him fewer options. Jiménez flicked the shot up and produced an acrobatic bicycle footwear to score. Mexico were headed for the World Cup and Jiménez’s small portion of magic went viral connected the internet.

Having played astatine the 2014 World Cup, Jiménez was rapidly outgrowing the Mexican league and by the pursuing play was with Spanish broadside Atlético Madrid. It seemed a large move. Atlético were buzzing nether manager Diego Simeone and had conscionable won the Spanish league, portion their counter-attacking benignant should person suited Jiménez. Madrid, however, didn’t enactment out. There was excessively overmuch contention for a subordinate conscionable 23 years of property and not yet with the acquisition of playing successful a top-class European league. One extremity successful 28 games was a mediocre instrumentality for 10 cardinal euros and it was clip to determination on.

In August 2015 Jiménez seemed acceptable to articulation Premier League broadside West Ham United but helium failed to amusement up for his aesculapian exam. The authoritative relationship is that helium had missed his formation to London aft oversleeping. More apt helium was persuaded by his manager, Jorge Mendes, that a determination to Benfica would beryllium amended for him. So Portugal it was and that proved a bully call. Benfica enjoyed a palmy spell, with titles, European shot and Jiménez got to play virtually each game.

Jiménez celebrates winning the Portuguese Primera Liga with Benfica. (W Radio)

Jiménez was maturing arsenic a player. He was nary longer the young frontman who lived conscionable to score. He was present putting successful touches each implicit the field, often starting attacks from the halfway of the transportation and being astatine the different extremity to decorativeness them. At 6’3″ helium could enforce his beingness successful the punishment area, but helium was not an old-fashioned thug type. He combined his size with agility and timing, often racing betwixt defenders to usher the shot into the net.  After playing 120 games, and scoring 31 goals during his 3 years with Benfica, Raúl Jiménez was acceptable to trial himself connected a bigger stage. It had been delayed, but helium was yet coming to England.

The nine helium joined was Wolverhampton Wanderers. After decades of mediocrity they were backmost successful the apical formation and had recovered an outstanding young manager successful Nuno Espírito Santo. Nuno understood that to execute occurrence successful the Premier League, Raúl would request regular playing time, thing helium had not been fixed astatine Atlético. Nuno besides knew however hard the Mexican worked successful grooming and however helium would beryllium a affirmative power successful the dressing room. It was a cleanable match.

In his archetypal season, Jiménez was Wolverhampton’s apical scorer with 17 goals. A indebtedness woody became a imperishable transportation and the pursuing twelvemonth proved adjacent better, bringing 55 games, 27 goals and 2 of the club’s Player of the Season Awards. This play was heavy impacted by Covid-19, with the league being suspended successful March and past resuming successful beforehand of bare stadiums. For the Jiménez family, determination was the distraction and excitement of a archetypal kid and Raúl raced from the changing country to the infirmary to beryllium determination for the commencement of his daughter, Arya.

Covid-19 would yet walk and the recently expanded household were blessed successful their English lives, becoming arsenic settled arsenic immoderate nonrecreational shot subordinate tin ever be. His popularity with fans helped to forge a nexus betwixt his Mexican location and his caller location of Wolverhampton, with Jiménez putting connected a aureate wrestling disguise to observe a goal, portion fans composed an iconic opus for him:

“Here’s thing that the Wolves privation you to know, the champion successful the satellite and helium comes from Mexico, our fig nine, springiness him the shot and he’ll people each time, Si señor, Give the shot to Raúl and helium volition score…”

Unfortuantely, connected 29th November 2020, during his 3rd play with the club, Jiménez’s vocation took an unforeseeable and frightening course.

Wolves were playing Arsenal and Jiménez had taken up his accustomed presumption astatine the beforehand of the 6-yard container for a country erstwhile Arsenal defender David Luiz came crushing into him. As the player’s skulls collided, the ace vibrated done the bare stadium — a infinitesimal that inactive haunts radical who were there. Jiménez laic connected the ground, the deficiency of movement, his closed eyes, the humor trickling from his nose, each signs that this was serious. That nighttime Jiménez underwent a bid of operations for a fractured skull, and bleeding connected the brain.

By the adjacent time the archetypal situation was implicit and helium was awake and capable to person a telephone telephone with his family. However, helium faced a agelong and uncertain roadworthy to afloat recovery.

The fearfulness of immoderate lasting harm faded, but determination is simply a quality betwixt starring a mean beingness and being capable to basal up to the intelligence and carnal challenges of a nonrecreational sportsman. At this stage, Jiménez himself was possibly the lone idiosyncratic who thought that helium would play again. There was a agelong layoff, a agelong spell of grooming connected his ain and past a interaction of comedy. There came a constituent erstwhile helium could commencement to instrumentality portion successful five-a-side successful grooming matches, but the different players were nether strict instructions that determination was to beryllium nary carnal contact, truthful the squad that Jiménez was connected ever won these amazingly competitory grooming games.

Jiménez recovered and returned to the team, but things had changed astatine the club. The beloved Nuno had moved connected and determination was a antithetic ambiance astir the stadium. With a twelvemonth near connected his contract, and Jiménez not successful the plans of caller manager Julen Lopetegui, determination came a astonishment connection from London.

Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrović was keen to spell to the new, high-spending Saudi Arabian league and the nine present needed a replacement striker. It was improbable that Fulham saw a 33-year-old who had yet to amusement helium was backmost to his pre-injury champion arsenic a imperishable solution to their problem, but helium mightiness supply immoderate impermanent cover. Jiménez, ever noted for his committedness to training, was arsenic acceptable arsenic immoderate of the youngsters successful the squad and arsenic enthusiastic arsenic ever.

In his archetypal season, a squad that had looked similar relegation candidates finished a comfy 13th and Jiménez was getting a regular starting spot successful the side. This twelvemonth Fulham are erstwhile again comfortably mid-table and amended still, person reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, England’s premier footballing trophy, with Jiménez calmly scoring the archetypal punishment of the tie-breaking shootout.

What bequest volition helium leave? While helium would not marque a database of the World’s Greatest 100 players, we would expect him to beryllium included successful a measurement of Mexico’s Best 100 players. And sometimes a subordinate has to beryllium measured by the unmeasurable. His publication successful the changing room, his enactment connected the grooming pitch, his popularity with the fans, his bravery astatine coming backmost from injury, are each things that bash not amusement successful the statistic but that the radical who knew him volition remember.

The singular communicative of Raúl Jiménez is acold from over. If Fulham qualifies for European shot adjacent play that volition beryllium the adjacent breathtaking chapter.

Bob Pateman is a Mexico-based historian, librarian and a beingness word hasher. He is exertion of On On Magazine, the planetary past mag of hashing.