[ad_1]
Luis Jiménez has failed to reach his true potential during his stay in Europe, but remains a force to be reckoned with in his unique youth club
At his best, he was a mercurial game genius. At worst, a cowardly cannon apathetic and totally ineffective.
However, Luis Jimenez is endowed with incredible ball talent and retains the ability to change the course of a match into one inspired movement.
At the age of 34, he led the Palestino children's club at the edge of the Copa Libertadores group stage. In the process, Jimenez also gains applause from unexpected circles.
Publisher's choice
Indeed, he can count among his supporters the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the group that has been fighting for more than 50 years against the Israeli presence in disputed territories.
"I think Luis Jimenez embodies the feeling of Palestinians in general, not just the club," said Xabier Abu Eid, Chilean member of the PLO. DNA Deportes from the city of Beit Jala in the West Bank, after watching the veteran score a goal and reconvert his shot to a corner in an agonizing victory of Libertadores against Medellin last week.
"Always fight and never give up. I saw him doing that today in Medellin, with his goal, his penalty and the fighting spirit he showed with the rest of the team. "
Since it was founded in 1920 by Palestinian immigrants in Chile, Palestino has been a rallying point for the community.
The team wears the distinctive green, white and red colors that also feature on the Palestinian flag, while the Bank of Palestine is the main sponsor almost continuously for 10 years.
Last year, the Santiago team even hosted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for a visit. The politician had put the goalkeeper of the "Arabs" to the test of the penalty spot.
This commitment to the Palestinian cause, however, has created problems in the past.
In 2014, the club was fined by the Chilean federation and banned from using a new edition of jerseys featuring, instead of number 1 on the back, a reproduction of the Palestinian borders before the score in 1947.
Jewish groups in Chile, as well as the Israeli government, have expressed their disapproval. A community leader described the initiative as "ugly political violence in Chilean football".
Palestino, however, remained unrepentant.
"For us, free Palestine will always be historic Palestine, nothing less," reads the statement of the club. Nevertheless, they finally gave in and returned to the traditional numbering after being sanctioned by the Chilean ruling body.
It's in this unique club that Jimenez has become famous.
Originally from Palestine, he rose through the ranks of Palestino's youth and made his debut in 2001 less than three months after celebrating his 17th birthday.
The teenager only needed nine games to convince the Serie B team to invest in his emerging talent and take him to Italy. His career to the top was completed in 2006 when Fiorentina ran to sign him when he was only 21 years old.
But Jiménez had not been released from Ternana. The club continued to control 50% of its game in accordance with Italy's complicated rules on co-ownership and refused to sell its shares.
"I've always had a lot of offers," explained the player in an interview with Goal in 2016. "I always went on loan, I was doing well, but I always came back to Terni and every time it was always the same thing.
"I was getting bids but there was no way to talk with the club, and then the last day of the market they would send me somewhere." The wait was always nerve-wracking. "
Even at Inter, where he had a first positive impression, the Chilean remained at the mercy of Ternana, who had strayed away from Serie B and into the lower of the Italian pyramid.
A succession of injuries and endless loan movements have slowed his growth, but he also reported some well-known personal problems: he was the victim of a criminal badault charge of the old Chilean teammate Mauricio Pinilla, whom he attacked in a nightclub to have partner had committed adultery with the attacker.
Jimenez continued to be cultivated in a succession of loan periods by Ternana. Some were successful, as at Cesena where he helped the club stay in Serie A. Others, like his fate with West Ham, were totally disappointing.
It was only in 2011 that he finally managed to break free of his club and settle in the UAE while he was only 25 years old. years and should have been at its peak. That same summer, he also ended his international career with a friendly against France in August, which is the last of his 26 caps for Chile.
Today, after seven years in the Middle East between the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, Jimenez is back where it all began. And he had an instant impact.
A few weeks after sealing his pbadage in Palestino, the evergreen striker scored the decisive goal in a 3-2 win over Audax Italiano, his rival, to deliver Copa Chile to his team, a win that earned to the Arabs a place to Libertadores.
He also guided the survival of Palestino, threatened with relegation, to Primera's survival with two wins and two draws in their last five outings in 2018, eventually finishing four points from the fall zone.
On Wednesday, Palestino begins its quest for the biggest prize of the year. The Argentinian Talleres made his debut in the last qualifying round of the Copa. The first leg should take place in the stretches of Estadio Mario Kempes of Córdoba.
The article continues below
If the Chileans can negotiate this tie, a place in group A of the competition itself is convened, as well as substantial gains in price and money for television.
It will not be a smooth walk. If Talleres fails Palestino enters what will probably be the "death group" of the Copa 2019, alongside the holders of River Plate clubs, Brazilian giants Internacional and Alianza Lima of Peru.
Everyone in the club will turn to Jimenez, his abilities and experience to guide them through the biggest competition in South America – as well as many enthusiastic observers and football fans from across the world. world, in Palestine itself.
Source link
