Benfica’s interest in Santiago Giménez made headlines on the other side of the ocean. Returning to Mexican soccer, now working at Tigres, Óscar Tojo explains that he saw in the newspaper headlines a reference to a player he worked with at Cruz Azul and about whom he has praise. Not only because of his left foot and the goals he scores, but also because of the young goalscorer’s posture, on and off the field.
The son of Christian Giménez, Santiago had to deal, from an early age, with the expectations of Cruz Azul fans. His father was an idol at the club, a Mexican international -he was born in Argentina, but spent most of his career in Mexico-, a benchmark for Cruz Azul where Santiago stood out at the age of 17 in the field of soccer. first team, led by the Portuguese coach Pedro Caixinha. Óscar Tojo worked as a physical trainer in that technical team.
“When we arrived at Cruz Azul, Santiago was about 17 years old. He started training with us, in the main team, and playing in the Under 20s. The adaptation process was not easy, because we were bringing new ways of working to the team. club that we were trying to implement, with a club context, but also with an individual context”.
In the striker, Pedro Caixinha’s technical team identified potential. “In addition to wanting to be a soccer player, Santiago had a different characteristic. He came from the family of a well-known former player here in Mexico, he is the son of Christian Giménez, who had been a reference in Cruz. Blue. Santiago was already “well educated” about how a footballer should live, what is the necessary process to, later, reach a professional context.”
“He’s a good boy. Someone you like easily. But he is also a focused young man, who enjoys training, who has a good relationship with his teammates. He knows very well the pros and cons of this life, where he has to walk. But he’s also humble, and that’s a point in his favor. “There has always been a lot of talk about him, also because of the family context. I don’t know to what extent the comparison (with his father) can move him.”
Goals and help the team. And passion for training
The attitude of the athlete is reflected in the daily work. “He has a great passion for training. I have always noticed. He has always been very available although at first he was a bit anxious, just in case, what was being said, whether or not he would make it to the top. level”.
“He evolved and, in the Under 20 process, he began to be a benchmark, he began to score many goals. He began to be called up to the main team. [Pedro] Caixinha was the person who had the responsibility to give him the opportunity, to give him his debut in the Mexican championship.”
But Santiago Giménez stepped on -or left- from different spaces. “He played more outside, and he always had a very easy relationship with the goal. Either in easier situations or in slightly more difficult situations. We noticed that his relationship with the goal was very good. So he was a coach with a lot of technical quality, well above average, especially with his left foot.
Without the ball, Santiago also highlighted. A feature that allows you to adapt to new contexts. “With the evolution I realized that he is also a team player, with a lot of disposition, even when the team does not have the ball, he manages to keep up, both offensively and defensively, which allows him to help the team . “.
In Europe, short spaces and a better game with their backs to the goal
Santiago Giménez played in Mexico the first years of his career as a senior soccer player. Last summer he moved to Rotterdam to Feyenoord. Óscar Tojo made the trip in the opposite direction. After a stint at the Portuguese Football Federation, he has just returned to Mexico where he is working on defining the training methodology for Tigres, both in the first team and in the entire structure, right up to the formation.
“I saw two or three Santiago games in Europe. He has great mobility in short spaces, which is to say, he is very fast, even in the fantastic way in which he manages to turn towards the goal. He has evolved in the way he plays. with his back to the goal. He already plays in these two moments: in support and in depth ”, assesses Óscar Tojo.
“His predominant characteristics are still there: scoring ability, a very good left foot, which makes the difference in shots and, even in short spaces, the ability to create advantages.” Attributes that also enchant the Mexican public.
“Many times they compare him with Raúl Jiménez, about what his characteristics are, we also played with Raúl here in Mexico and I can say that they have some similar characteristics. There is that comparison here, in Mexico. This news came out about the interest of Benfica. here on the cover.”
Raúl has been a regular for the Mexican team in recent years. Santiago was left out -surprisingly- of the call for the last World Cup. In the week that he is linked to Benfica, Santiago Giménez is back in the national team.
FIRST @Diegococca1 LIST. #TheSelectionIsOfEveryone pic.twitter.com/NDx1xcjCX1
– Mexican National Team (@miseleccionmxEN) March 2, 2023
Source: TSF
