Giovani dos Santos
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Giovani Alex dos Santos Ramírez | ||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) |
Attacking Midfielder, Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | FC Barcelona | ||
| Number | 17 | ||
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of February 7, 2007 | |||
Giovani dos Santos Ramírez[2] (born May 11, 1989 in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico) is a Mexican attacking midfielder or forward, who plays for Arsenal and the Brazillian 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. On 6 June 2008, Barcelona's official website published an article stating that Giovani had been transferred to Tottenham Hotspur F.C. for an initial fee of €6 million, potentially rising to €11 million depending on appearances.[3]
Biography
Gio is the son of a famous 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 is Mexican. Gio has two brothers and two half brothers, the older Eder, who currently plays for Socio Águila in the Primera División A as a defensive midfielder, and the younger Jonathan who also plays for FC Barcelona, in the Juvenil A 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.[citation needed] 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 talent and quickly progressed through the youth ranks to join their third division team.
U-17 World Championship and Later Career
During the FIFA U-17 World Championship 2005, Gio managed to assist 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 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. Giovani once again played a significant role during the tournament and helped the team win the national title of the Juvenil A category.
In 2006, Giovani 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.[4] Hugo Sánchez, the ex-manager of the Mexican national team, called on him for the first time for exhibition games against Panama and in early September. He made his debut against Panama on September 9 2007.[5]
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 against Gambia, Portugal, and New Zealand. On July 2, 2007, Giovani 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. Giovani was awarded the Adidas Bronze Ball, behind the Argentines, Sergio Aguero and Maximiliano Moralez.
2007-08 season
During the summer of 2007, Giovani was once again invited to join Barcelona's senior squad on their pre-season tour. On August 29 2007, Giovani received dual nationality and was included in the official first team squad. He made his competitive and league debut on September 2 2007 during a 3-1 home win against Athletic Bilbao, coming on for Thierry Henry in the 62nd minute.[6]
Giovani made his Champions League debut on September 19 2007 during a 3-0 home win against Lyon. He came on as a substitute for Xavi in the 79th minute.[7]
On May 17, 2008, Giovani scored a hat trick against Real Murcia, with a final score of 3-5, granting a victory to Barcelona on the team's last game of the 07-08.
On June 6, 2008, Tottenham Hotspur FC agreed a deal to sign Giovani from Barcelona FC contrary to rumors linking him with St Albans City FC.
The Mexican forward will sign a five-year contract in a move which will cost Spurs an initial £4.7m and rise to £8.6m depending on appearances.
Barcelona have retained the right to 20% of any fee should the 19-year-old move on from Spurs in the first two years of his spell with the club.
And, according to the Spanish club's website, they will get 10% of any transfer if he is sold on.
Club career statistics
- (correct as of 17 May, 2008)
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | ||
| Barcelona | 2007-08 | 28 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 4 | 4 |
| Total | 28 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 4 | 4 | |
| Career Total | 28 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 4 | 4 | |
Honours
International
Individual
References
- ^ Barcelona official squad profile
- ^ Barcelona official squad profile
- ^ "Giovani transferred to Tottenham Hotspur". FCBarcelona.com. Retrieved 2008-06-06.
- ^ "Goals and debuts in Denmark (0-3)". FCBarcelona.com. Retrieved 2007-07-29.
- ^ "Mexico coach Hugo Sanchez calls Giovani Dos Santos into El Tri for first time". Yahoo.com. Retrieved 2007-09-01.
- ^ "Barcelona 3-1 Athletic Bilbao". soccernet.com. Retrieved 2008-01-17.
- ^ Soccernet match report
External links
- Giovani dos Santos – FIFA competition record (archived)
- Template:Es icon Giovani, Eder & Jonathan Dos Santos Website
- Template:Es icon Gio2santos.com Dos Santos Site
- Template:Es icon News, photos and videos Giovani dos Santos
