Having racked up a century of international appearances, Raul Jimenez found the back of the net for his country the first time in over a year as he helped Mexico to victory over Guatemala.
The forward scored from the spot to put El Tri ahead in their friendly last week, as he became the first of Wolves’ internationals to get game time during this summer’s slate of matches.
Ahead of a busy weekend which will see nine Old Gold players looking to represent their countries, here is a round up of the action featuring Julen Lopetegui’s men in the last seven days.
Raul Jimenez | Mexico 2-0 Guatemala
With just 12 minutes on the clock in the Estadio de Mazatlan on Thursday, Jimenez – wearing the captain’s armband for his country – had an opportunity to get a shot on goal for Mexico, but his effort was blocked by the hand of Guatemala defender Jose Ardon, with the referee pointing to the penalty spot. As he’s shown so many times in gold and black, Jimenez stepped up to the mark confidently, and with his trademark stutter technique, he waited for the goalkeeper to make the first move to his right, and he guided the ball low into the opposite corner to put his country ahead. Mexico were put under the cosh during the match to not only hold on, but added a second as Roberto de la Rosa – who came on for Jimenez on 72 minutes – fired home with 10 minutes remaining. Having suffered an injury to his groin, Jimenez missed Mexico’s friendly draw with Cameroon and will not be part of his country’s CONCACAF Nations League and Gold Cup fixtures this summer.
Joe Hodge | Republic of Ireland U21 P-P Gabon
Republic of Ireland under-21 captain Hodge and his teammates were meant to play three international friendlies during the next week, but that has been reduced to two after their fixture with Gabon was called off at late notice. The Young Boys in Green were due to face Gabon’s under-23s this evening in preparation for the start of their Euros campaign in September, but their opponents did not arrive as planned on Sunday and match organisers were unable to contact the team. A decision was made yesterday morning to cancel the match. The Wolves midfielder will be hoping to see some on-pitch action on Friday as Ireland U21s face Ukraine before their final friendly fixture against Kuwait on Monday (19th June).
The organisers of Ireland U21s’ friendly against Gabon, due to take place tomorrow in Austria, informed the FAI this morning the fixture is off after Gabon elected not to travel
— Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball) June 12, 2023
This is outside of our control and Ireland will now continue preparations for Ukraine and Kuwait pic.twitter.com/WTwMxFg7OO
Coming up
Nathan Collins is with the senior Irish side and will be looking at being part of the team to face Greece in their Euro 2024 qualifier on Friday (7.45pm), while Hee Chan Hwang and South Korea are due to take on Peru in a friendly fixture earlier in the day (12pm).
On Saturday, Wolves have four players in the Portugal squad – Jose Sa, Nelson Semedo, Toti and Ruben Neves – for their Euro 2024 qualifier with Bosnia and Herzegovina (7.45pm) while Matija Sarkic is among the Montenegro options for their qualifier against Hungary (5pm).
Mario Lemina has been called up by Gabon for their only fixture of this international period as they take on DR Congo in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on Sunday evening (7pm).
