All Things Mexico

The loss of Raúl Jiménez has been a big blow to Wolverhampton Wanderers but manager Nuno Espírito Santo says they must find other ways to score in the absence of the injured Mexican striker.

Jiménez, 29, will be sidelined for the foreseeable future after he underwent surgery on a fractured skull. Without their top goalscorer and focal point of attack, Wolves rarely tested Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday, going down 4-0 at Anfield.

I’ll be honest, I had little to no intention of watching tonight’s Liga MX semifinal second leg between Cruz Azul and Pumas. La Máquina had won the first leg 4-0, and although Cruz Azul comes with the factory warning of Cruz Azul-ing, I’d like to think I had better things to do on a Sunday night.

I don't. Sources told me Juan Dinenno had pulled one back for Pumas in the fourth minute, so the gin went in the juice and I turned on TUDN.  

It was a massive week in U.S. soccer viewership with everyone taking time off for Thanksgiving and hunkering down to watch to incessant onslaught of the Premier League, the start of the MLS Cup playoffs and the business end of the Liga MX Apertura liguilla. 

In terms of English-language broadcasts, the highest-rated event between Nov. 23 and Nov. 29 was last Sunday’s dire 0-0 draw between Chelsea and Tottenham at Stamford Bridge. An audience of 744,000 tuned in on NBCSN to have their spirits crushed by José Mourinho.

Gregg Berhalter, you sly dog. 

18-year-old phenom Efraín Álvarez hasn’t filed a one-time switch from Mexico to the USMNT yet, but that hasn’t stopped Berhalter from luring Zlatan Ibrahimovic's cub into camp, showering him with praise and raising the pulse of Tri supporters everywhere. 

Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Raúl Jiménez had an operation on his fractured skull following a clash of heads with Arsenal defender David Luiz during Sunday's game, the Premier League club said on Monday.

The Mexican forward needed oxygen on the pitch before being taken off on a stretcher and rushed to hospital.

Sunday’s meeting between Arsenal and Wolves at the Emirates was brought to a halt in the fifth minute after an ugly clash of heads between David Luiz and Raúl Jiménez off a Willian corner kick. 

Jiménez was stretchered off while receiving oxygen and replaced by Fábio Silva after coming off worse, whereas Luiz continued for Arsenal. Jiménez was then taken directly to a hospital.  

Update: Jiménez is reportedly now conscious and responding to treatment.   

Chivas advanced to the semifinals of the Guardianes playoffs after defeating América 2-1 on Sunday night (3-1 on aggregate). América believed they could overturn the one-goal deficit from the first leg at the Azteca, but Cristian “Chicote” Calderón scored two great goals to turn Henry Martín’s strike into nothing more than consolation.   

The 23-year-old Calderón — who’s been capped four times by Mexico — opened the scoring in the 31st minute with an unstoppable left-footed drive from distance that flew by Guillermo Ochoa and into the corner.   

Tigres has qualified for the quarterfinal round of the Liga MX Guardianes playoffs after defeating Toluca 2-1 on Sunday. Hugo Ayala was sent off in the 71st-minute for Tigres, but André-Pierre Gignac’s pair of quick fire strikes in the 35th and 38th minutes proved enough for the home side. 

Gignac is known as "Mr. Liguilla" for a reason, but the cross on his opening goal from Luis Quiñones deserves a lot of praise.  

As the rain and mist rolled into Liebenauer Stadium in Graz, Austria on Tuesday, it was Mexico that moved like the onryō ("vengeful spirits") that originated in their opponent’s homeland before being proliferated around the world through the J-Horror genre.

An opening 20 minutes of Japan superiority was beat back single-handedly by Guillermo Ochoa, but the rhythm of the game slowly changed in Mexico’s favor and by the time Raúl Jiménez opened the scoring in the 63rd minute, you felt as though it’d been coming for El Tri.

But first, Ochoa.

The 2020 Liga MX Apertura regular season (renamed Guardianes to honor healthcare workers) came to a close on Sunday to finalize positions for the reformatted liguilla.

The number of teams that qualify for the playoffs has been raised from eight to 12 due to the shortened season, although the top four teams still qualify directly to the quarterfinals whereas seeds five through 12 must now navigate a single-leg play-in round to make up the last eight.