Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio and U-23 boss Raúl Gutiérrez are the men to impress at the moment. So it should come as no surprise to hear that Giovani dos Santos, Javier “Chicharito” Hernández, and Raúl Jiménez are doing their damn best to get call ups to Copa Centenario – or, in the case of Jiménez, Olympic – craziness.
Here’s what our dudes were up to over the weekend:
Giovani dos Santos
Gio has scored three goals in two games. His most recent strike was nothing short of spectacular; with his back turned awkwardly towards the sideline, the Mexican international didn’t even need to take a peek around his shoulder before producing a chip that was – for lack of a proper dictionary to describe such footballing magic – perfect. 45th minute. LA Galaxy 4-1 Real Salt Lake. USMNT goalkeeper Nick Rimando: helpless, hopeless, and defeated.
“The truth is it was pure joy. I think it was a beautiful goal. And as a forward you want to be on the score sheet and contribute to the team’s success as I’ve said before,” Gio said after the match.
Beautiful indeed. And reminiscent of a golazo that’s gone down in history as one of our favorites of all time to boot. Yep, you guessed it: that strike to complete the comeback and go up 4-2 in the 2011 Gold Cup final.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsE5lJh-s5E
“Yes, it reminded me of the goal in 2011,” Gio went on. “I think it was practically the same; only it was on the different side. When the ball went in, the goal [from 2011] crossed my mind immediately.”
In other news:
Javier “Chicharito” Hernández
Chicharito – who we recently discovered will be in attendance at the Copa Centenario – capped Bayer Leverkusen’s outrageous 3-2 comeback at Schalke with a gamewinner of his own. It was the stuff of dreams: Chicharito flew down the field on a counter in the 60th, which led to a beauty of a pass to feed Chichadios’ darting run, nestling the ball blissfully into the opposite corner.
Yep.
The goal was Leverkusen’s third in six minutes, Chicharito’s 26th across competitions. His side is now sitting pretty five points clear of Hertha Berlin in third place. Current feels:
Raúl Jiménez
But hold up – we’re not done yet! Chicharito wasn’t the only Mexican crack to score a gamewinner on the weekend; Raúl Jiménez did it too, playing the final 24 for Benfica and scoring the game’s only goal en route to an 0-1 away win over Rio Ave.
The goal:
Jiménez now has five league goals, two cup strikes, and three Champions League nets, marking his first 10-goal season in Europe.
It looks like he’s already asked his club for permission to compete at Rio 2016 this August too, as per quotes released earlier today:
Here’s to tons of golazos and Mexican soccer success this summer.