Giovani dos Santos

Giovani dos Santos Ramírez^[2] (born May 11, 1989 in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico) is a Mexican attacking midfielder, who can also play forward, who plays for FC Barcelona and the Mexican national team. Dos Santos was a member of the Mexican National U-17 team that won the 2005 U-17 World Cup held in Peru.

Biography

Gio is the son of retired Brazilian football player Gerardo dos Santos, better known as "Zizinho", who played for the Mexican soccer clubs América and León in the late 1980s; Gio's mother, Liliana Ramírez dos Santos, is Mexican. Gio has two brothers and two half brothers, the older Eder and the younger Jonathan who also plays for FC Barcelona, but in the Juvenil B category. Gio's father can be recognized as the driving force behind his son's career, as he founded a school in Monterrey, named São Paulo in México, at which he coached his children along with many other kids. In 2001, São Paulo participated in the Dallas Cup, a prestigious youth tournament in the USA, winning the U-12 category with Giovani as the star of the team. After that accomplishment, Zizinho decided that Giovani was ready to begin a professional career and he managed to get Gio a trial with the Mexican first division team Club Monterrey in which he was immediately identified as a prodigy and quickly jumped the youth ranks to join their third division team.

U-17 World Championship and Later Career

During the FIFA U-17 World Championship 2005 wearing the number eight on his back Gio managed to assist on half of the goals of the Mexican team during the tournament, a fact that, combined with his abilities, awarded him the Adidas Silver Ball as the second best player of the tournament, finishing behind only the Brazilian Anderson. After the U-17 title, Giovani returned to Barcelona, and went back to the Juvenil A category where he helped his team to make a comeback in the league and win the regional title. This title allowed them to participate in the Youth Copa del Rey, where they faced other regional champions, among them their historic arch-rival Real Madrid. Giovani once again played a significant role during the tournament and helped the team win the national title of the Juvenil A category. In the summer of 2006, Giovani dos Santos was one of the few youth players invited to the pre-season of the FC Barcelona senior squad, during a friendly match on July 29 2006 he scored in what was his debut game for FC Barcelona senior team against AGF Aarhus.^[3] Hugo Sánchez, manager of the Mexican National Team, has made public that he maintains communication with the player, and called on him for the first time for exhibition games against Panama and Brazil in early September. He made his début against Panama on September 9, 2007. ^[4]

U-20 World Championship

In the U-20 World Cup Qualifying round he scored twice; once against St. Kitts and Nevis in the 86^th minute and the second against Jamaica in the 56^th minute. He was forced to sit out the last game against Costa Rica due to the fact that he had received a yellow card in the previous match. The game ended in a 1-1 draw, but Mexico still qualified at the top of the regional group. During the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup Mexico was placed in Group C, where they were drawn against Gambia, Portugal, and New Zealand. On July 2, 2007, Giovani dos Santos and the rest of the Mexico played against Gambia and won 3-0, with Giovani opening the scoring in second half with a superb volley into the left-hand corner from outside of the box. Then Dos Santos played against Portugal, where Mexico won 2-1, with Giovani scoring the opening goal from the penalty spot. As Mexico had already qualified from the group, in the game against New Zealand he was rested. During the last-sixteen round Mexico played against Congo, dos Santos returned to the starting line-up and yet again opened the scoring with a goal from penalty spot, in a match that Mexico won 3-0. In the quarterfinals, Mexico were eliminated by Argentina. The game ended 1-0. Giovani was awarded the Adidas BronzeBall, behind the Argentines, Sergio Aguero and Maximiliano Moralez, who took the Gold Ball and Silver Ball respectively.

Summer 2007

The 2007-2008 pre-season performance earned him praise from Rijkaard and his fellow team-mates. On 29 August 2007, Giovani received dual nationality from the Spanish Constitution, making him eligible to play with the first team. He is known simply as Giovani while playing in the Barcelona team.

Club career statistics

(correct as of 20 December, 2007)

Honours

International

Mexico

• FIFA U-17 World Championship: 2005

Individual

• FIFA U-17 Silver Ball: 2005
• FIFA U-20 Bronze Ball: 2007

References

External links

• (Spanish) Gio2santos.com Dos Santos Site
• (Spanish) News, photos and videos Giovani dos Santos
• FCBarcelona.cat - Official website (Catalan) / (Spanish) / (English) / (Japanese) / (Chinese)