The image has become so familiar that it’s easy to forget why it exists.
Every time Raul Jimenez walks onto the football pitch, the black protective headband is with him. They are no longer just devices. It’s a reminder – of a collision that nearly killed him, of a career that almost ended, and of a second chance that made him something bigger than Mexico’s No.9.
As Mexico begin another knockout campaign against Ecuador on Tuesday (Wednesday 6.30 am, IST), the nation’s hopes rest not just on a resurgent team playing at home, but on a striker most aware of second chances.
“I was losing almost everything, even my life,” Jimenez told The Times. “So I’m trying to enjoy football as much as I can. I try to enjoy everything, not just football, everything.”
Also read | FIFA World Cup: A magical strike from Mexico’s most beloved striker
It’s a remarkable approach for someone hoping for a nation that has spent decades recovering from a recurring World Cup fate.
An unfortunate moment
On 29 November 2020, a routine corner at the Emirates Stadium changed Jimenez’s life. Arsenal defender David Luiz was knocked unconscious after a clash of heads. He suffered a fractured skull, underwent emergency surgery and spent days in the hospital. The injury threatened his life, let alone his career.
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Jimenez fractured his skull in the Premier League six years ago and underwent emergency surgery and spent days in hospital. (AP Photo)
“The doctor told me it was like a miracle to be there,” Jimenez recalled months later. “The skull fracture… there was some bleeding inside the brain. It was pushing my brain in and that’s why the surgery had to be done quickly.”
The injury erased the memory of the incident itself. “I remember we got to the stadium… then it was like the lights went out,” Jimenez told The Guardian. “I don’t remember anything else.”
Yet the striker never accepted that football was over. “I never thought about ending my career,” he said. “There was a chance, but I was always confident.”
That optimism contrasted sharply with the fear around him. “It’s hard to see your partner dead,” his wife Daniela Basso said in the BBC documentary Code Red. “I closed my eyes, and I just said, ‘Please wake up … move a little, just to know you’re alive.'”
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Recovering from an injury does not mean an immediate return to the player he once was.
Jimenez missed eight months of football. He returned wearing a protective headguard and gradually regained his game and confidence. At one point, doctors advised Wolves to keep him away from the close-up role he often took before the injury because of the risks involved.
He later admitted that heading the ball again required overcoming fear. “I was always so confident about coming back as the same player or better that I didn’t realize how bad the injury was,” Jimenez said.
But football rarely has an emotional ending.
As his goals dwindled, the Wolves eventually moved on. Young forwards emerged for Mexico. Supporters questioned whether Jimenez should still lead the line and labeled him the ‘most overrated player’ in the national set-up.
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Another one is coming
Today, Jimenez’s value goes beyond goals. At Fulham, manager Marco Silva believes in him not just as a finisher but as a complete centre-forward, capable of connecting play, bringing teammates into the game and creating opportunities for them to finish themselves.
That evolution has also defined Mexico’s World Cup. Jimenez has become the team’s reference point in attack, holding the ball under pressure, weaving together and creating space for runners. His influence has extended beyond the scoresheet, with his experience helping to guide one of the competition’s youngest teams through difficult moments. When Mexico needed peace, they always looked to the man in the black headband.
His performance has also answered the questions that once surrounded his place in the national team. After years of injuries and growing calls for a move to Mexico, Jimenez has re-established himself as Javier Aguirre’s indispensable No.9. Whether scoring, creating or simply setting the tone with his relentless pressing and selfless running, he has been at the heart of Mexico’s run to the knockout stages.
That duality defines Jiménez today. Like every striker he is still judged by goals, but his importance has now gone much deeper. He is Mexico’s attacking fulcrum and the embodiment of resilience. Mexico spent decades chasing El Quinto Partido – the fifth match that marks a World Cup quarter-final.
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The team believes they can finally change that. For Jimenez, the pursuit has a different resonance. For many footballers, surviving a skull fracture is a defining achievement. For Raul Jimenez, it may yet become a prologue.