- Giovani Dos Santos
Infobox Football biography
playername = Giovani Dos Santos
fullname = Giovani Alex Dos Santos Ramírez
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1989|5|11
cityofbirth =Monterrey ,Nuevo Leon
countryofbirth =Mexico
height = height|m=1.74 [http://www.fcbarcelona.com/web/english/futbol/temporada_07-08/plantilla/jugadors/giovani.html Barcelona official squad profile] ]
currentclub = Tottenham Hotspur
clubnumber = 17
position Attacking Midfielder
youthclubs = Club MonterreyFC Barcelona Juvenil A
youthyears = 2001
2002–2006
years = 2007–2008
2008–
clubs = Barcelona
Tottenham Hotspur
caps(goals) = 28 (3)
6 (0)
nationalyears = 2005
2007–
2007–
nationalteam = Mexico U-17
Mexico U-20
Mexico
nationalcaps(goals) = 08 (0)
06 (5)
08 (0)
pcupdate = 31 August 2008
ntupdate = 09 September 2008Giovani Alex Dos Santos Ramírez (born May 11, 1989) is a
Mexican Second Striker or Attacking Midfielder, who plays for Tottenham Hotspur 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 inPeru .Biography
Born in
Monterrey ,Nuevo León ,Mexico , Dos Santos is the son of aBrazil ian football playerGerardo 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 is Mexican. Dos Santos has two brothers and two half-brothers, the older, Eder, currently plays forClub America in thePrimera División A as adefensive midfielder , and the younger Jonathan, plays forFC Barcelona in La Liga.Dos Santos' father is seen 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 own, and many other, children.fact|date=August 2007 In 2001, São Paulo participated in theDallas Cup , a prestigious youth tournament in the USA, winning the U-12 category with dos Santos as a member of the team. Zizinho decided that dos Santos was ready to begin a professional career and was able to get him a trial with Club Monterrey.U-17 World Championship and later career
During the
FIFA U-17 World Championship 2005 , dos Santos managed to assist half of the goals of the Mexican team during the tournament, a fact that, combined with his abilities, awarded him theAdidas Silver Ball as the second best player of the tournament, finishing behind only to Brazilian and Manchester United mildfielder Anderson.After the U-17 title, dos Santos returned to Barcelona and 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-rivals,Real Madrid . Dos Santos once again played a significant role during the tournament and helped the team win the national title of the Juvenil A category.In 2006, dos Santos was invited on the pre-season tour of FC Barcelona's senior squad; during a friendly match on
July 29 2006 he scored in his senior team debut game against Danish club AGF Aarhus. [cite web |url=http://www.fcbarcelona.com/eng/noticias/noticias/n06072817.shtml |title=Goals and debuts in Denmark (0-3) |publisher=FCBarcelona.com |date=29 July 2007 ]Hugo Sánchez , former manager of the Mexican national team, called on him for the first time for exhibition games against Panama and in earlySeptember . He made his debut against Panama onSeptember 9 2007 . [cite web |url=http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news;_ylt=AveztwR0wWCGcKBfz8L.ucImw7YF?slug=ap-mexicoroster&prov=ap&type=lgns |title=Mexico coach Hugo Sanchez calls Giovani Dos Santos into El Tri for first time |publisher=Yahoo.com |date=1 September 2007 ]U-20 World Championship
In the U-20 World Cup Qualifiers he scored twice; once against St. Kitts and Nevis in the 86th minute and the second against Jamaica in the 56th minute. He was forced to sit out the last game against Costa Rica as he had received a yellow card in the previous match. The game ended in a 1-1 draw, but Mexico still qualified, finishing top of the regional group.
During the
2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup Mexico was placed in Group C, where they were drawn againstGambia ,Portugal , andNew Zealand . On July 2, 2007, dos Santos and the rest of the Mexico team played against Gambia and won 3-0, with Giovani opening the scoring in the second half with a superb volley into the top left-hand corner from outside of the box. Dos Santos then played against Portugal, where Mexico won 2-1, scoring the opening goal from the penalty spot. As Mexico had already qualified from the group, he was rested for the game against New Zealand. In the last-sixteen Mexico played against Congo, dos Santos returned to the starting line-up and yet again opened the scoring with a goal from the penalty spot in a match that Mexico won 3-0. In the quarter finals, Mexico were eliminated by Argentina, with a close fought game ending 1-0. Dos Santos was awarded theAdidas Bronze Ball, behind ArgentinesSergio Aguero andMaximiliano Moralez .2007–08 season
During the summer of 2007, dos Santos was once again invited to join Barcelona's senior squad on their pre-season tour. On
August 29 2007 , dos Santos received dual nationality and was included in the official first team squad. He made his competitive and league debut onSeptember 2 2007 during a 3–1 home win againstAthletic Bilbao , coming on forThierry Henry in the 62nd minute. [cite web |url=http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=226421&cc=5901 |title=Barcelona 3–1 Athletic Bilbao |publisher=soccernet.com |date=17 January 2007]Dos Santos made his Champions League debut on
September 19 2007 during a 3–0 home win against Lyon. He came on as a substitute forXavi in the 79th minute. [ cite web |url=http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=228758&cc=5901 |title=Barcelona 3-0 Lyon: Messi orchestrates win |date=19 September 2007 |publisher=soccernet.com ]On
May 17 ,2008 , dos Santos scored ahat trick againstReal Murcia , with a final score of 3–5, granting a victory to Barcelona on the team's last game of the 2007–08 season. It was also the last game dos Santos played before joining Tottenham Hotspur.Tottenham Hotspur
On
10 June 2008 , dos Santos passed a medical and agreed terms to complete his move to Tottenham Hotspur from Barcelona. The transfer fee is initially £4.7 million, with the potential to rise to £8.6 million depending on appearances. The deal also includes a sell-on clause of 20% within dos Santos' first two years at Spurs, and 10% thereafter. cite news
title = Tottenham complete Giovani deal
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/t/tottenham_hotspur/7440216.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 10 June 2008]The young Mexican was on target twice as Tottenham beat local Spanish side Tavernes in an 8-0 thumping on their 2008-09 pre-season tour. These were his first goals for Tottenham. Gio has also impressed in Tottenham's other pre-season games having major influences in 5-1 wins over Leyton Orient and Norwich City. He also scored the second goal in the 3-0 win over Borussia Dortmund to help spurs to make it two wins out of two and take home the Feyenoord Jubileum Tournament trophy.
Club career statistics
:"(correct as of
20 September 2008 )"Honours
International
flagicon|MEX Mexico
*FIFA U-17 World Championship : 2005Individual
*FIFA U-17 Silver Ball:
2005
*FIFA U-20 Bronze Ball:2007 References
External links
* [http://www.giodosantos.com Official site]
* [http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/players/first_team/giovanidossantos.html Tottenham Hotspur profile]
*FIFA player|234551
* [http://www.footballdatabase.com/index.php?page=player&Id=6507&b=true&pn=Giovani_Alex_Dos_Santos_Ramírez Footballdatabase.com Provides Profile and Statistics for Giovanni Dos Santos]
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