Another Raúl Jiménez brace saw Mexico crowned CONCACAF Nations League champions on Sunday evening, as they defeated Panama 2-1.
After bagging two in the Semis, Raúl was at it again in Inglewood after just eight minutes, when he was able to nod into an empty net after the Panama ‘keeper had failed to collect a deep cross.
Panama levelled things up on the stroke of half-time when VAR spotted an infringement and awarded them a penalty, with Adalberto Carrasquilla sending his effort straight down the middle.
And it was another spot-kick that settled this Final, when an inexplicable handball in the last minute of the game presented Raúl with his opportunity from 12 yards. He’s been flawless for Fulham in that scenario, and the same was true on this occasion as he sent the goalkeeper the wrong way.
Those four goals in two games also saw Raúl named Player of the Tournament, and afterwards he said: “Mission accomplished. These matches are tough, but we played the way we needed to after they tied the game, and we're happy with the victory.
“The team's work was solid - when we had to defend, we did, and when we had to attack, we did.
“I'm excited about what the national team is doing. Fortunately, we got rid of that thorn by finally winning this championship.
“I had played in the preliminary rounds but had never played in the final four, and what better way to do it than by winning it on my first try.
“This is just the beginning – I still have a lot to give to the national team, and I will give my best effort. If things go well, great. Thank you all for the support.”
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In the UEFA Nations League, Timothy Castagne played the full 90 minutes as Belgium retained their League A spot with a 3-0 victory over Ukraine.
Having trailed 3-1 from the first leg, it was an impressive turnaround from the Red Devils, with Romelu Lukaku’s late double following up Maxime De Cuyper’s opener.
Timo operated at left-back in the game.
Serbia also managed to maintain their place in the top tier, defeating Austria 2-0 to claim a 3-1 aggregate victory.
Saša Lukić played 83 minutes of that clash, in which goals from Nemanja Maksimovic and Dusan Vlahovic did the damage.
Joachim Andersen was involved in a barnstorming Play-Off which Denmark had control of for large parts, only for Portugal to end strongly to claim a 5-2 victory after extra-time making it 5-3 on aggregate.
The Danes twice levelled things on the night after Rasmus Kristensen and Christian Eriksen cancelled out Joa’s unfortunate own goal and Cristiano Ronaldo’s effort.
But Francisco Trincao forced extra-time late on, adding another in the 91st minute before Goncalo Ramos wrapped things up with five minutes to play.
In World Cup qualifying, Sander Berge helped Norway get off to the perfect start, playing the full 90 of their 5-0 win in Moldova.
Goals from Julian Ryerson, Erling Haaland, Thelo Aasgaard and Alexander Sorloth had things sewn up by half-time, with Aron Donnum adding some gloss in the second half.
On Friday, Alex Iwobi and Calvin Bassey both played the entirety of Nigeria’s 2-0 win over Rwanda in their Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
Victor Osimhen hit a first half brace to bag the three points for the Super Eagles.
For England, Josh King played the final quarter of an hour of the Under-19s’ goalless draw with Turkey, Samuel Amissah was involved for the entirety of the Under-18s’ 2-2 with France, and Seth Ridgeon registered an assist as the Under-17s defeated Slovenia 3-2.
Brodie Dair played the closing stages of Scotland Under-17s’ 2-0 win over Romania.
