Raúl Jiménez’s second-half spot-kick sparked a Mexico comeback as Australia squandered a 2-0 lead in their friendly against El Tri in Texas last night.
The Socceroos, who handed former Fulham academy graduate Cameron Burgess an international debut, established a strong position through Harry Souttar’s thumping header from a corner and a penalty from Martin Boyle, after Santiago Gimenez had spurned a great chance to equalise for the Mexicans – smashing his own spot-kick into the woodwork.
Jiménez made no mistake from the spot, beating Mat Ryan from twelve yards after Burgess had brought down Uriel Autana in the area. The Fulham striker’s 33rd senior international goal came nine minutes after he was introduced as a substitute by new manager Jaime Lozano, who recalled the former Wolves forward having been appointed national team boss earlier this summer. Debutant Cesta Huerta curled home an equaliser with seven minutes to play – and Mexico might easily have grabbed a winner in a frantic finale.
An international boost of confidence… 🙂