Chile striker Luis Jimenez, who plays his club football with Italian second division side Ternara and is almost unknown in his homeland, awoke as a national hero on Thursday after his goals in the 2-1 World Cup qualifying win over Venezuela. The 20-year-old midfielder only got his chance after injuries to Reinaldo Navia and Mauricio Pinilla and suspensions for Marcelo Salas and Sebastian Gonzalez had left Chile short of strikers. Chile coach Nelson Acosta chose to play Jimenez in an improvised striker's role alongside Patricio Galaz and the gamble paid off as he replied with both goals to keep Chile in the hunt for a World Cup place. The game is likely to mean a drastic change in lifestyle for Jimenez, who until Wednesday was so unheralded in Chile that he could play with his son in the square near his Santiago home without being recognised. "Not even a football fanatic would stop me on the corner," he told Las Ultimas Noticias newspaper. Jimenez, one of two players in the current national team set-up who carries the nickname "The Magician", never played professional football in his homeland. --More 2256 Local Time 1956 GMT
