Santiago Giménez

Santiago Giménez
Santiago Tomás Giménez (born 18 April 2001) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Eredivisie club Feyenoord. Born in Argentina, he represents the Mexico national team.
Club career
Cruz Azul
On 2 August 2017, Giménez made his professional debut with Cruz Azul in a Copa MX group stage match against Tigres UANL in a 1–1 draw. Two years later, on 28 August 2019, he made his Liga MX debut against Tijuana in a 3–2 loss. He would score his first goal with the club on 2 February 2020, in a league match against Toluca in a 3–3 tie, scoring within the first two minutes of the match.
In August 2021, scoring in 4 separate league matches, Giménez was named Liga MX Player of the Month.
Feyenoord
2022–23: Debut season and Eredivisie champion
On 29 July 2022, Giménez joined Feyenoord on a four-year contract.
He scored his first goal for the club on 27 August, scoring the second goal in the club's 4–0 win over FC Emmen while also providing the assist for Jacob Rasmussen to score the club's third goal. On 8 September, he made his UEFA Europa League debut against Italian club Lazio in that season's edition in a group stage match, coming on as a substitute at the 64th minute and scoring twice in the club's 4–2 loss. On 3 November, after coming on as a substitute, he scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory in the return game against Lazio in the Europa League group stage, securing Feyenoord's first place finish in the group and directly qualifying to the round of 16.
Feyenoord went on to win the 2022–23 Eredivisie, with Giménez scoring 15 goals in 32 matches, including the second goal in a 3–0 win over Go Ahead Eagles to secure the league title.
2023–24: Second season in the Netherlands
In August 2023, Giménez extended his contract with Feyenoord for one year.
Giménez began the 2023–24 season on 4 August in the Johan Cruyff Shield, playing 62 minutes as PSV Eindhoven defeated them 1–0 to win their third consecutive title. On 20 August, Giménez scored his first goal of the season in a 2–2 draw against Sparta Rotterdam. In the following games, on 27 August and 3 September, Giménez scored two braces, one in a 6–1 win against Almere City and another in a 5–1 away win against Utrecht. On 27 September, Giménez completed a hat-trick in a 4–0 away win over Ajax by scoring the first and second goals on 24 September, and scoring the third on 27 September after the game was originally abandoned on the 24th. He would go on to be named Eredivisie Player of the Month for September. In the Champions League, he was suspended for the first two group stage matches, having received a red card against Roma in the Europa League quarter-final second leg from the previous season. Giménez made his Champions League debut on 25 October, scoring the first and third goal in a 3–1 home win over Lazio.
International career
Despite having the option of representing Argentina, his country of birth, Giménez decided to represent Mexico after becoming a naturalized Mexican citizen, stating "I feel more Mexican than Argentine," having lived in Mexico for the majority of his time since his father moved there. He has been called up by Mexico's U-15, U-18, U-20, and U-23 teams. He made 3 appearances with the Mexico U16s at the 2016 International Dream Cup.
In September 2020, Giménez received his first senior national team call up by Gerardo Martino for a training camp. That same month, it was reported that the Argentina under-20 coach Fernando Batista was interested in calling him up.
On 27 October 2021, Giménez made his senior debut for Mexico in a friendly match against Ecuador. On 8 December, he scored his first goal for Mexico in a friendly match against Chile that ended at a 2–2 draw.
In October 2022, Giménez was named in Mexico's preliminary 31-man squad for the World Cup, but did not make the final 26.
On 16 July 2023, Giménez scored the only goal in the CONCACAF Gold Cup final against Panama.
Personal life
Santiago is the son of footballer Christian Giménez, who also played with Cruz Azul. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Giménez moved to Mexico at the age of three with his father after he was transferred to Primera División side Veracruz. He is a devout Christian and was baptized in January 2019. Giménez is married to Mexican model Fer Serrano.
Career statistics
Club
International
Scores and results list Mexico's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Giménez goal.
Honours
Cruz Azul
Liga MX: Guardianes 2021
Copa MX: Apertura 2018
Campeón de Campeones: 2021
Supercopa de la Liga MX: 2022
Supercopa MX: 2019
Leagues Cup: 2019
Feyenoord
Eredivisie: 2022–23
Mexico
CONCACAF Gold Cup: 2023
Individual
Liga MX All-Star: 2021
Liga MX Player of the Month: August 2021, September 2021
Eredivisie Team of the Month: April 2023, September 2023
Eredivisie Player of the Month: September 2023
Eredivisie Talent of the Month: April 2023
CONCACAF Gold Cup Mark of a Fighter Award: 2023
References
External links
2001 births
Living people
Footballers from Buenos Aires
Mexican men's footballers
Mexico men's youth international footballers
Mexico men's international footballers
Argentine men's footballers
Argentine emigrants to Mexico
Mexican people of Argentine descent
Sportspeople of Argentine descent
Men's association football forwards
Cruz Azul footballers
Liga MX players
Eredivisie players
Feyenoord players
2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup players
CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players
Mexican expatriate men's footballers
Mexican expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands
Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands