Luis Jiménez (footballer, born 1984)

Chilean footballer (born 1984)

Luis Antonio Jiménez Garcés (born 17 June 1984) is a Chilean former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He was also a member of the Chile national team from 2004 to 2021, playing at the Copa América in 2004 and 2011.

Born in Santiago, Chile, Jiménez played youth football for Palestino in Chile, a club mostly made up of players of Palestinian descent. He gained Palestinian citizenship in June 2013. He started his Italian footballing career in 2002 at Ternana Calcio. During the January 2006 transfer window, Jimenez moved to Serie A side ACF Fiorentina while remaining under joint ownership with his former club, for €3 million. For Fiorentina, he generally played as a right sided winger, striker or occasionally a centre forward. His right foot is his strongest but he can also make good use of his left. He made 19 appearances during the 2005–06 season for Fiorentina, scoring 3 goals in the process. In late June 2006, Ternana purchased back half of the rights to Jiménez from Fiorentina for €3 million.

On 15 January 2007, Lazio finally agreed a move for Jiménez with the first season on loan, for €311,000 and on 27 January he played his first match for Lazio against Palermo.

On 15 July 2007, Internazionale signed him on loan from Ternana, for €1 million. He scored his first Inter goal in extra time in the Champions League against Fenerbahce. He was rewarded with his first Inter start on 2 December against Fiorentina, where he scored the opening goal. He also started the subsequent match against Lazio on 5 December, where he set up Maicon's goal. At the end of the 2007–08 season, Inter officially signed him on a co ownership deal, for €6.3 million on a 3 year contract. Under coach Jose Mourinho, he played his first game against A. S. Roma coming on as a second half substitute and scored a penalty in Inter's Italian Supercup win. Jiménez played his first game of the 2008–09 Serie A year against Sampdoria on 30 August 2008, but unfortunately picked up an injury later in a practice session. He returned from injury on 30 November 2008 when he was subbed in Inter Milan's Serie A game against Napoli. A subsequent long term injury limited Jiménez to a total of 6 appearances for the 2008–09 Serie A season. The co ownership deal with Ternana was renewed on 23 June 2009.

Jiménez signed for West Ham United on 23 June 2009. Although a work permit had been granted a couple of weeks before, the deal was only announced after personal terms were agreed. West Ham signed Jiménez on a one year loan initially, with an option to purchase at the end of the loan period. He made his full debut for West Ham in their 2–0 away win against Wolves on 15 August 2009. He scored his only goal for West Ham, a penalty and West Ham's fifth, in a 5–3 home win against Burnley on 28 November 2009.

On 1 February 2010, Parma signed the Chilean attacking midfielder on loan from Internazionale until June, his previous loan with West Ham United having ended prematurely. He signed as part of the deal which saw McDonald Mariga move to Internazionale. Jiménez has been sent off three times since signing for Parma. At the end of the season, Parma wanted to sign him outright, but the deal fell through after Ternana bought back Jiménez.

On 26 June 2010, after Inter failed to agree a price with Ternana for the remain 50% registration rights, the rights went to auction and Ternana won, for €3.177 million. made Inter profited €5.277 million in accounting with the option to buy, and was in the starting lineup after the poor form of the original starting lineup. The coach put Ezequiel Schelotto on the bench and Jiménez became the new second striker in the 4–3–3 formation, partnered with central forward Erjon Bogdani and wing forward Emanuele Giaccherini.

On 29 June 2011, Al Ahli Dubai announced that Jiménez had joined the club on a four year contract. He had a successful first season, scoring 13 goals and featuring in most of the games. In the 2012–2013 season, he won the Presidents Cup with Al Ahli.

In May 2022, while playing for Palestino, it was announced that Jiménez would play his last match as a professional footballer on Sunday 22 against Cobresal in the Estadio Municipal de La Cisterna. The result was a 3–1 win and Jiménez made an assist for the third goal. However, he returned to football after signing with Primera B club Magallanes on July 19.

Jiménez represented Chile U17 at the 2001 South American U 17 Championship and Chile U20 at the 2003 South American U 20 Championship. At senior level, he made his international debut on 28 April 2004, in a match against Peru. On 4 June 2005, Jiménez assisted Marcelo Salas' historic 35th goal for the national team, which made Salas Chile's top scorer ever. The goal came in a qualifying match against Bolivia which Chile went on to win 3–1. Four days later, he scored twice against Venezuela in another qualification match. Jiménez became captain of Chile during 2006 and also won the 2005–06 Chile Player of the Year award. However, he saw little national team action under the direction of Marcelo Bielsa. On 19 June 2011, he returned in an international friendly against Estonia and was subsequently included by Claudio Borghi in the squad for the 2011 Copa America. However, he didn't receive any further international call ups during his time at Al Ahli. In March 2021, after a 10 year absence, he was recalled by Martín Lasarte for a friendly match against Bolivia, in which he scored his third international goal. At 36 years and 282 days of age, Jiménez became Chile's oldest goalscorer.

Scores and results list Chile's goal tally first. No Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1. 7 June 2005 Estadio Nacional, Santiago, Chile 1–0 2–1 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification 2. 2–0 3. 26 March 2021 El Teniente, Rancagua, Chile 1–0 2–1 Friendly

Jiménez married Chilean model María José "Coté" López in 2006. They have triplets (all girls: Rebeca, Isidora and Rafaela, born on 15 June 2010, ) and a son, Jesús, born 30 April 2016. In addition, Jiménez has a son, Diego, who was born before his marriage to María José. On December 2008, Jiménez assaulted Mauricio Pinilla in a Santiago nightclub. His daughter Isidora is a young football player in the Magallanes youth ranks and has been called up to train with the Chile youth squad. The Jiménez family has a close friendship with fellow footballer Carlos Villanueva's family. In addition to the fact that Jiménez played with Villanueva at Al Ittihad, Jiménez and his wife are the godparents of the Villanueva's son and Villanueva and his wife are the godparents of the Jiménez's children.