| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Giovani dos Santos Ramírez | ||
| Date of birth | 11 May 1989 | ||
| Place of birth | Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1] | ||
| Playing position | Attacking midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Tottenham Hotspur | ||
| Number | 17 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2002–2006 | Barcelona | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2006–2007 | Barcelona B | 27 | (6) |
| 2007–2008 | Barcelona | 28 | (3) |
| 2008– | Tottenham Hotspur | 14 | (0) |
| 2009 | → Ipswich Town (loan) | 8 | (4) |
| 2010 | → Galatasaray (loan) | 14 | (0) |
| 2011 | → Racing Santander (loan) | 16 | (5) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2005 | Mexico U17 | 8 | (2) |
| 2007 | Mexico U20 | 6 | (5) |
| 2007– | Mexico | 53 | (11) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11 December 2011. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Giovani dos Santos Ramírez[2] (born 11 May 1989) is a Mexican footballer who currently plays as an attacking midfielder for English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur. He can also play as a winger or second striker. Since joining Tottenham, he has had loan spells at Ipswich Town, Galatasaray and Racing de Santander. He previously played for FC Barcelona.
Dos Santos was a member of the Mexican National U-17 team that won the 2005 U-17 World Cup held in Peru. He made his debut for the Mexico national team in a 1–0 victory over Panama on 9 September 2007.
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Dos Santos, was born in Monterrey, Mexico.[2] He is the son of former Brazilian footballer Zizinho, who played for the Mexican football clubs Club América and Club Leon in the late 1980s. His mother, Liliana Ramírez, is a Mexican national. Dos Santos has two brothers and two half-brothers; the elder, Éder dos Santos, currently plays for Club América in the Primera División de Mexico as a defensive midfielder, and his younger brother, Jonathan dos Santos plays for FC Barcelona in the Spanish First Division.
Dos Santos joined FC Barcelona's academy of La Masia at the age of eleven[3] and played for Barcelona's 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 Barcelona's senior squad; during a friendly match on 29 July 2006, he scored in his senior team debut game against Danish club AGF Aarhus.[4] On 28 November 2006, Barcelona included dos Santos in their 23-man squad for the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan.[5]
During the summer of 2007, dos Santos was once again invited to join Barça's senior squad on their pre-season tour. On 29 August 2007, dos Santos received dual nationality[6] and was included in the official first team squad. He made his competitive and league debut on 2 September 2007 (at 18 years and 114 days) during a 3–1 home win against Athletic Bilbao, coming on for Thierry Henry in the 62nd minute.[7]
Dos Santos made his Champions League debut on 20 September 2007 during a 3–0 home win against Olympique Lyonnais. He came on as a substitute for Xavi in the 79th minute.[8]
On 17 May 2008, dos Santos scored a hat trick against Real Murcia, with a final score of 5–3, granting a victory to Barça on the team's last game of the 2007–08 season. It was also the last game dos Santos played before joining Tottenham Hotspur.
On 18 June 2008, dos Santos passed a medical and agreed terms to complete his move to Tottenham Hotspur from Barcelona. Barcelona reported that the transfer fee was €6 million with an additional 5 million Euros payable depending on appearances for Tottenham.[9][10][11]
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. Dos Santos also played in Tottenham's other pre-season games such as the 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. Dos Santos scored his first competitive goal for Spurs in the UEFA Cup on 26 February 2009 against Shakhtar Donetsk.[12] After 12 first team appearances, he was sent on loan to Ipswich Town for the remainder of the season.[3]
He also scored in Tottenham's Europa League group match against Shamrock Rovers on 29th September, 2011, at White Hart Lane.
In March 2009, dos Santos signed on loan at Ipswich Town until the end of the season.[13] He made his debut on 14 March 2009, coming on as a substitute against Reading.[14] He scored his first league goal and the equaliser in the following game against Burnley. He scored his second goal against Bristol City on Easter Monday, a 94th minute penalty to equalise for Ipswich. He also claimed an assist and a goal from the penalty spot in Ipswich's 3–2 win over local rivals Norwich City a week later.[15] He finished his loan with four goals in eight appearances.[3]
His first game of the 2009–10 season came against Doncaster Rovers in the League Cup, in which he provided an assist. He was substituted off, however, due to an ankle injury early on in a League Cup game against Preston North End and has only managed to make a substitute appearance in a 1–0 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers before being loaned out to Galatarsaray in Turkey.
His commitment has been questioned by Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp, who warned him to stay away from nightclubs and revealed that he was often late for training on Mondays.[16] Redknapp assured dos Santos, however, that he is still part of his plans at Tottenham.[17]
In January 2010, dos Santos signed for Turkish club Galatasaray on loan for the remainder of the 2009–10 season, with an option to purchase him at the end of that period.[18] The move reunited the player with Frank Rijkaard, his former coach at Barcelona. On 31 January, he made his debut coming on as a 58th minute substitute for Emre Çolak in a league game against Denizlispor with victory 2–1.[19] He returned to Tottenham in the summer having failed to score for Galatasaray, and stayed there for half a season before being loaned to La Liga club Racing Santander in January.
On 31 January 2011, dos Santos joined La Liga side Racing de Santander on loan until the end of the season from Tottenham.[20] He made his debut for his new club on 5 February 2011 as a substitute against Real Zaragoza, drawing the game 1–1. He scored his first goal as a substitute against Villarreal CF in the 68th minute on 27 February 2011. Dos Santos scored a brace in a 3–2 win league match over Hércules CF.
dos Santos participated at the 2001 Danone Nations Cup that was held in the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, France, where 40 countries also participated. Mexico would finish the tournament fifth. He won the Golden Boot award for top goalscorer.
During the 2005 U-17 World Championship, which his team won, dos Santos assisted half of the goals of the Mexican team during the tournament, a feat that won him the Adidas Silver Ball as the second best player of the tournament, finishing behind only to Brazilian and current Manchester United midfielder Anderson.
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 for precautionary reasons 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 2 July 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 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 round of 16, Mexico played against Congo and 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 was eliminated by Argentina by an own goal on the second-half, which was the only goal of the game in a 1–0. Dos Santos was awarded the Adidas Bronze Ball.
Dos Santos earned his first selection for a Mexico senior team roster when Hugo Sánchez picked him for exhibition games against Panama and Brazil.[5] Dos Santos appeared for the first time for Mexico in a 1–0 victory over Panama on 9 September 2007.[21] The match was abandoned at half time because of heavy rain.[5] He scored his first two goals for Mexico on 24 June 2009 in a friendly match against Venezuela, a game in which he was also named Man of the Match.
He scored his third goal for Mexico on 19 July in the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup quarter-final game against Haiti in the 42nd minute and also recorded two assists in the 4–0 victory. On 26 July 2009, he helped Mexico end a ten-year drought of victory against the United States on American soil with a 5–0 victory that helped secure Mexico's fifth CONCACAF Gold Cup.[22] He was named player of the tournament.
On 5 September 2009, dos Santos contributed to all three goals in a 3–0 win over Costa Rica in the 2010 World Cup qualification stages. He scored the first goal from outside the penalty box with his preferred left foot and assisted in the following two goals.[23]
When his brother Jonathan dos Santos was cut from Mexico's final 23-man squad for the 2010 World Cup, his father Zizinho said that dos Santos was very hurt and claimed he was unsure whether he would play in the World Cup.[24]
In the 2010 World Cup, dos Santos started in every game for Mexico as a right winger. He completed 138 passes without providing an assist.[25] He was voted runner-up for the FIFA Young Player of the Tournament award, which eventually went to Thomas Müller of Germany.[26]
Dos Santos was called up to play the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup after a good mid-season loan to Racing Santander. On 9 June 2011, dos Santos scored a brace against Cuba in a 5–0 win.[27] In the final match against the United States, he scored in a 4–2 win, by dribbling inside the box against Tim Howard and chipping the ball into the top-left corner over Eric Lichaj. That goal was also named the best goal of the tournament.[28]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | ||
| Barcelona B | 2006–07 | 27 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 6 | 0 |
| Total | 27 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 6 | 0 | |
| Barcelona | 2007–08 | 28 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 37 | 4 | 7 |
| Total | 28 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 37 | 4 | 7 | |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 2008–09 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 0 |
| 2009–10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | |
| 2010–11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2011–12 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 2 | |
| Total | 12 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 26 | 2 | 3 | |
| Ipswich Town | 2008–09 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 1 |
| Total | 8 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 1 | |
| Galatasaray | 2009–10 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 3 |
| Total | 14 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 3 | |
| Racing Santander | 2010–11 | 16 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 5 | 2 |
| Total | 16 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 5 | 2 | |
| Career total | 105 | 18 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 130 | 20 | 15 | |
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mexico | 2007 | 4 | 0 |
| 2008 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2009 | 12 | 5 | |
| 2010 | 12 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 19 | 8 | |
| Total | 53 | 14 | |
| Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 24 June 2009 | Georgia Dome, Atlanta, United States | Venezuela | 2–0 | 4–0 | Friendly |
| 2. | 3–0 | |||||
| 3. | 19 July 2009 | Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, United States | Haiti | 2–0 | 4–0 | 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup |
| 4. | 26 July 2009 | Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, United States | United States | 2–0 | 5–0 | 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup |
| 5. | 5 September 2009 | Estadio Ricardo Saprissa, San José, Costa Rica | Costa Rica | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2010 World Cup qualification |
| 6. | 12 October 2010 | Estadio Olímpico Benito Juárez, Ciudad Juárez, México | Venezuela | 2–2 | 2–2 | Friendly |
| 7. | 1 June 2011 | Invesco Field at Mile High, Denver, United States | New Zealand | 1–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
| 8 | 2–0 | |||||
| 9. | 9 June 2011 | Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, United States | Cuba | 2–0 | 5–0 | 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup |
| 10. | 4–0 | |||||
| 11. | 25 June 2011 | Rose Bowl, Pasadena, United States | United States | 4–2 | 4–2 | 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup |
| 12. | 25 June 2011 | Rose Bowl, Pasadena, United States | United States | 5–2 | 5–2 | 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup |
| 13. | 25 June 2011 | Rose Bowl, Pasadena, United States | United States | 6–2 | 6–2 | 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup |
| 14. | 25 June 2011 | Rose Bowl, Pasadena, United States | United States | 7–2 | 7–2 | 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup |
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