GIOVANI DOS SANTOS
BIOGRAPHY
Giovani dos Santos, born 11 May 1989) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays for Liga MX club América and the Mexico national team. A versatile forward, dos Santos can play as an attacking midfielder, winger and secondary striker.
Dos Santos began his football career at a very young age, being recruited by Spanish club Barcelona and played for their B team until age 18. He made his way up the ranks, eventually playing for the senior squad, making his debut in 2007. That year, he was named by World Soccer Magazine as one of the "Top 50 Most Exciting Teen Footballers". After playing one season, Dos Santos was transferred to Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur in 2008 in search for more playing time. Though he would stay with the club until 2012, his time there was mostly spent away on loan, at Ipswich Town, Galatasaray and Racing de Santander, with varying degrees of success. Spurs eventually sold dos Santos to Mallorca in 2012, and he was sold a year later to Villarreal. After a three-year stint, he was sold to LA Galaxy in July 2015, who went on to buy out his contract and release him prior to the 2019 season.
Dos Santos was a member of the Mexico under-17 team that won the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship held in Peru. He made his debut for the senior national team in a 1–0 victory over Panama on 9 September 2007, and represented El Tri at the 2010, 2014, and 2018 FIFA World Cups, along with the 2013 and 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. With Mexico, Dos Santos has won the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2009, 2011 and 2015, scoring in the 2009 and 2011 finals and winning the MVP award in 2009. He was also a member of Mexico's team that won the gold-medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
LA GALAXY
On 15 July 2015, the Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy announced the signing of dos Santos as a Designated Player, in a reported US$7 million deal.
On 6 August, dos Santos made his competitive debut and scored his first competitive goal for the Galaxy in a CONCACAF Champions League fixture against Trinidadian side Central FC. Three days later, he made his MLS debut and scored a goal and provided an assist in the 3–1 win over Seattle Sounders FC.
In July 2016, dos Santos was included in the roster for the 2016 MLS All-Star Game. On 21 July 2016, he came off of the bench during the quarter-finals of the U.S. Open Cup, scoring within three minutes of coming onto the pitch. The goal help the Galaxy start a comeback leading to a 4–2 victory over Seattle Sounders to advance to the semi-finals for the first time in ten years.
In July 2017, Dos Santos was included in the roster for the 2017 MLS All-Star Game.
On 1 March 2019, LA Galaxy announced they had exercised its one offseason buyout of a guaranteed contract on dos Santos, thus releasing him from the team.
CLUB AMERICA
On 6 July 2019, Dos Santos officially joined Mexican side Club América. He will play in the Liga MX for the first time after reaching a three-year agreement with América, being handed the number 10 shirt. In his first Súper Clasico against Guadalajara on 28 September, dos Santos suffered a thigh injury mid-match following a tackle from Antonio Briseño, with the defender piercing dos Santos' skin with his studs and leaving a deep gash in his right leg. He was stretchered off the field and immediately taken to a nearby hospital. Club América later released a statement stating the player had suffered a wound in the quadriceps of the right thigh and would require surgery, thereby ruling him out of action for up to six weeks.
Biografia
Giovani dos Santos, nacido el 11 de mayo de 1989) es un futbolista profesional mexicano que juega para el club América de la Liga MX y la selección nacional de México. Un delantero versátil, dos Santos puede jugar como mediocampista ofensivo, extremo y segundo delantero.
Dos Santos comenzó su carrera futbolística a una edad muy temprana, siendo reclutado por el club español Barcelona y jugó para su equipo B hasta la edad de 18 años. Ascendió en las filas, eventualmente jugando para el equipo senior, haciendo su debut en 2007. Eso año, fue nombrado por World Soccer Magazine como uno de los "50 mejores futbolistas adolescentes más emocionantes". Después de jugar una temporada, Dos Santos fue transferido al club de la Premier League Tottenham Hotspur en 2008 en busca de más tiempo de juego. Aunque se quedaría con el club hasta 2012, su tiempo allí pasó principalmente prestado, en Ipswich Town, Galatasaray y Racing de Santander, con diversos grados de éxito. Spurs finalmente vendió dos Santos a Mallorca en 2012, y fue vendido un año después a Villarreal. Después de una temporada de tres años, fue vendido a LA Galaxy en julio de 2015, quien luego compró su contrato y lo liberó antes de la temporada 2019.
Dos Santos fue miembro del equipo sub-17 de México que ganó el Campeonato Mundial Sub-17 de la FIFA 2005 celebrado en Perú. Hizo su debut para el equipo nacional senior en una victoria por 1-0 sobre Panamá el 9 de septiembre de 2007, y representó a El Tri en las Copas Mundiales de la FIFA 2010, 2014 y 2018, junto con la Copa FIFA Confederaciones 2013 y 2017. Con México, Dos Santos ganó la Copa de Oro CONCACAF en 2009, 2011 y 2015, anotando en las finales de 2009 y 2011 y ganando el premio MVP en 2009. También fue miembro del equipo de México que ganó la medalla de oro en el 2012 Juegos Olímpicos de verano.
LA GALAXY
El 15 de julio de 2015, el club de la Major League Soccer LA Galaxy anunció la firma de dos Santos como jugador designado, en un acuerdo de US$ 7 millones.
El 6 de agosto, dos Santos hizo su debut competitivo y marcó su primer gol competitivo para el Galaxy en un partido de la Liga de Campeones de CONCACAF contra el equipo central de Trinidad y Tobago. Tres días después, hizo su debut en la MLS y marcó un gol y brindó asistencia en la victoria por 3-1 sobre el Seattle Sounders FC.
En julio de 2016, dos Santos fue incluido en la lista para el Juego de Estrellas de la MLS 2016. El 21 de julio de 2016, salió de la banca durante los cuartos de final de la Copa Abierta de EE. UU., Anotando a los tres minutos de llegar al campo. El objetivo ayuda al Galaxy a comenzar un regreso que conduzca a una victoria de 4-2 sobre Seattle Sounders para avanzar a las semifinales por primera vez en diez años.
En julio de 2017, Dos Santos fue incluido en la lista para el Juego de Estrellas de la MLS 2017.
El 1 de marzo de 2019, LA Galaxy anunció que había ejercido su única compra fuera de temporada de un contrato garantizado en dos Santos, lo que lo liberó del equipo.
CLUB AMERICA
El 6 de julio de 2019, Dos Santos se unió oficialmente al lado mexicano del Club América. Jugará en la Liga MX por primera vez después de llegar a un acuerdo de tres años con América, entregándose la camiseta número 10. En su primer Súper Clásico contra Guadalajara el 28 de septiembre, dos Santos sufrió una lesión en el muslo a mitad del partido después de una entrada de Antonio Briseño, con el defensor perforando la piel de dos Santos con sus tachuelas y dejando una profunda herida en la pierna derecha. Fue sacado del campo e inmediatamente llevado a un hospital cercano. Posteriormente, el Club América emitió un comunicado en el que afirmaba que el jugador había sufrido una herida en el cuádriceps del muslo derecho y que requeriría cirugía, lo que lo descartó por hasta seis semanas.
Meet & Greet for Pepsico
Univision Deportes, Player of the Year 2016
Giovani dos Santos and Felix Fernandez at the Univision Deportes Premios 2016
Press Release
Keep at it GIO -April 2017
"Bringing in Gio is a massive thing.... the perfect number 10..." , says David Beckham.
LA Galaxy to introduce Giovani dos Santos in press conference August 4 at StubHub Center
CARSON, Calif. (Monday, August 3, 2015) – LA Galaxy forward Giovani dos Santos will begin his official training with LA Galaxy on Tuesday, August 4 at StubHub Center before participating in a press conference in StubHub Center’s American Express Stadium Club along with LA Galaxy President Chris Klein and LA Galaxy Head Coach and General Manager Bruce Arena. The press conference will air live locally on Time Warner Cable SportsNet and Time Warner Cable Deportes.
Training will begin at 10 a.m. PT at StubHub Center’s University Field #1. The press conference will start at 1 p.m. PT following training and be streamed live on www.lagalaxy.com. Parking will be provided for media in Lot 17, which is located directly adjacent to University Field #1 on the east side of the StubHub Center facilities.
Media will have access to LA Galaxy training to capture video and b-roll of Dos Santos’ first session in addition to interviews with other Galaxy players on the field at the conclusion of the team’s practice.
Gio Dos Santos, L.A. Galaxy Out Door Campaign 2016
The Faces of MLS
Please click on image to see Mountain Dew and Giovani dos Santos Campaign
Press
The LA Galaxy Striker Celebrates His Mexican Roots on Both Sides of the Border
Before Giovani Dos Santos will talk about what home means to him, he wants to make sure you first understand where home is.
“I was born in Mexico City,” he says, correcting an error that has followed him throughout his soccer career. “A lot of people think I was born in Monterrey. But I was four years old when I moved there.”
It’s not an inconsequential error. A sense of place can be important to someone like Dos Santos who, at 28, has played for eight teams in four countries and on three continents, eventually landing in Los Angeles with the LA Galaxy in 2015.
Southern California is the closest he’s been to home since leaving for Barcelona’s famed youth academy when he was 11.
“Sometimes when we have two or three days off, if I have time, I go back to my house in Mexico. I feel Mexican. It’s where I was born,” says Dos Santos, who travels with a Spanish passport. “It’s one of the hardest things: to lose your family, your zone of comfort, your friends, you know?”
It’s no wonder our conversation takes place in an airport, where Dos Santos and his Galaxy teammates are waiting for an American Airlines flight to Washington D.C. for an important game with D.C. United.
“Lately it’s been just airports,” says Dos Santos, who travels in his LA Galaxy sweats. Trim and compact at five feet ten and 152 lbs., he has a baby face that, despite his beard, makes him look younger than his age.
Dos Santos lives in Los Angeles with his two dogs, Coco and Bally, a miniature French bulldog. But after this game, his time will be split between the Galaxy and the Mexican national team, with which he’ll also train as part of its preparation for next summer’s World Cup in Russia. Having two home towns in Mexico isn’t such a bad thing, though, because it means you’re always close to one of them. And while Mexico City, where he was born and where his family still lives, is probably the one closest to his heart, it was in Monterrey where his future was born.
Growing Up Soccer
“It was where I started playing soccer,” Dos Santos recalls. “I used to play soccer all day. I went with my friends and brothers in the street in front of my house and we played soccer there the whole day. Or until we got tired.”
There was little doubt that “Gio,” as he’s known, and brothers Eder and Jonathan, would gravitate toward the sport. Their Brazilian-born father Geraldo played under the name Zizinho during an 11-year professional career that ended in Monterrey and his three sons followed in his footsteps, with Eder joining a Mexican reserve team and Jonathan going on to play in Spain and the Mexican national team.
“I remember watching my father play,” Giovani Dos Santos says. “It was a pretty good time in my life. And I really like the food in Monterrey. It’s one of the best cities in terms of gastronomy,” he adds (although his own diet is strict: chicken, fish and zero carbs, except the day before a match).
But as good as Geraldo Dos Santos was on the field, it was obvious from a young age that Giovani, his middle son, would be better. He was a prodigy whose reputation quickly reached across the ocean to Spain. So Barcelona, which a few years earlier had invited a young Lionel Messi to join its famed youth academy, eagerly welcomed Dos Santos to soccer’s most prestigious finishing school in 2002, while he was still in grade school.
Three years later he would lead Mexico to a U-17 World Cup title, the country’s first major international prize in soccer. Dos Santos was named the second-best player in the tournament.
Suddenly he was in high demand and like a rare jewel he passed quickly through many clubs, going from Barcelona to Tottenham and Ipswich Town in England, on to Turkish giant Galatasaray and eventually back to Spain to play for Racing Santander, Mallorca and Villarreal.
Ironically, one of the few leagues he’s never played in is the Mexican one.
“Of course it’s a sacrifice,” he says. “As an athlete sometimes you have to make sacrifices. You never know what might happen in the future. I would like someday to play in my country.”
A Global Star
Internationally, Dos Santos has participated in two senior World Cups and won an Olympic gold medal, Mexico’s first in soccer, in 2012. Now, he’s one of many veterans on the team expected to play in next summer’s tournament in Russia, where Mexico could field the deepest squad in the country’s long soccer history.
“I don’t know if it’s the best team ever but I think this is one of the best generations in Mexico,” Dos Santos says. “We have a lot of quality, a lot of players playing at the highest level. Everyone is at the top of their career right now and we have to take advantage of that.”
The Galaxy had followed Dos Santos’ itinerant career with interest, believing that a Mexican national team star would be a big hit in Southern California, home to more than 6 million of his countrymen. It would be four years before their patience and persistence was rewarded, however, with Dos Santos finally agreeing to join the Galaxy and Major League Soccer in 2015.
It was a significant move for both the team and the league, which had developed a reputation as a retirement home for aging European stars.
“He not only is a player that was playing in some of the highest leagues in Europe but a player in the prime of his career that made a decision to come to MLS,” says Galaxy President Chris Klein, a former U.S. national team midfielder. “Beyond that, with the city of L.A. and the cultural makeup of our city and the changing makeup of our country, having a star Mexican player come and play in our league is very important.”
Home in Los Angeles
And Dos Santos has embraced that importance. While in the past he was sometimes criticized for lacking devotion at some of his European stops, he’s become an unquestioned team leader with the Galaxy.
“We’ve seen a real transformation and maturation in Gio,” Klein says. “Really, with this year, you’re seeing a true professional that our young players can look up to. He is the first one in and the last one to leave. His approach toward his profession is impressive.”
Dos Santos begins his days between 6 and 7 a.m. every morning, is at the StubHub Center by 8:30 and trains with the team at 10. He then hits the gym and gets additional treatments. He never leaves the stadium before mid afternoon. Prior to any match, he stretches, prays, listens to his music (and dances a bit), and goes for the kill.
In fact, Dos Santos has fit in quickly both on and off the field. He picked up a goal and an assist in his first start, then led the team in both categories in his first full season. In the community, he’s partnered with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles to raise money and awareness, helped build a futsal court for kids at a school in Santa Ana -- a heavily Mexican city about 25 miles south of the Galaxy’s stadium -- and staged a summer camp for youth in the shadow of the L.A. airport.
“I feel like it’s my second home,” Dos Santos says of Los Angeles. “There’s a lot of Mexican people here. My family is closer.
“The thing I miss from Mexico is my family. And the food, of course.”
His favorite dish? Tacos, naturally. But only in the off-season. By Kevin Baxter
