We all know there was a whole soap opera prior to the confirmation that Raul Jimenez would be in the World Cup.
With the Wolverhampton Wanderers striker still recovering from an injury, it was never very clear whether he’d be ready to feature in Mexico’s first games in the tournament.
It turns out that now that the player made it to the squad, many people still ask if he deserved to be there, especially with a video suggesting that he was not in the best conditions.
But with Mexico’s squad looking very united, goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa now came up in defence of the Wolves player.
In a press conference, he highlighted Jimenez’s battle to be in the World Cup, and blamed the local media for raising the doubts about his presence in Qatar.
“I see Raúl with desire, hunger, ambition and a huge desire to want to play, to be on the field, to contribute and help the team. The desire to return to that level, to play what Raúl has shown after what happened to his head, an example for everyone, an example of motivation and life for footballers and non-footballers alike. And the fact of having him here motivates me to work harder,” Guillermo Ochoa told the Mexican media (via Medio Tiempo).
“I have seen him very well in training, I have seen him working on extra things. That’s why I know it’s often unfair to him. They take five seconds of a video and say he’s not okay and they don’t even have the information they need to be able to report what’s going on. That’s sad, that’s unfair to Raúl. Yes, surely from the way he has worked and from how well I have seen his training sessions, surely he will be in very good shape on the field.”
Raul Jimenez only made four appearances for Wolves this season, all of them in August, and that’s why he’s a concern for Mexico.
So only time will tell whether manager Tata Martino was right in insisting on having the Wolves striker in the World Cup squad.
