Giovani Dos Santos, a professional footballer, was born on May 11, 1989 in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. He belongs to a family of footballers, his father, Gerardo dos Santos, is a former Mexican football player, who founded the São Paulo, a football school for coaching children. Eder, his older brother, plays football for the Club America in the Primera División A and Jonathan, his younger brother, plays for the FC Barcelona in La Liga.
In 2005, Giovani Dos Santos was a key player in the Mexico Under-17 football team participating in the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) U-17 World Championship. By assisting to score half of the goals that his national team scored in the FIFA 2005 tournament, he helped his team to win the FIFA U-17 World Championship. Giovani Dos Santos became the second best player of the tournament and earned the Adidas Silver Ball. He scored two goals out of the eight matches he played for the U-17 national team in 2005. Owing to his remarkable performances, Hugo Sánchez, the former manager of the Mexico national team invited him to participate in exhibition games in September 2006.
On September 9, 2007, Giovani Dos Santos played in a match against Panama national team. Being a talented midfielder, he scored two goals for the Mexico U-20 team during the 2007 FIFA World Cup U-20 qualifying matches. Both his goals were scored in the second-half of the matches; one against St. Kitts and Nevis in the 86th minute and the other against Jamaica in the 56th minute. With the goals of Giovani Dos Santos, his country’s U-20 team made it to the 2007 FIFA World Cup U-20. In the group match against Gambia, he netted a brilliant goal from outside of the box and helped his team win 3-0. By scoring the opening goal from the penalty spot, he fetched his side a 2-1 win against the Portugal national team. With Giovani Dos Santos in the team, the side went on to win the last-sixteen match played against Congo, in which he contributed a goal to his team’s score of 3-0. Despite his tremendous efforts, the Mexico U-20 side lost 1-0 to Argentina in the quarter-finals. By scoring 5 goals in 6 appearances for his country’s U-20 side, Giovani Dos Santos created a spectacular achievement in the 2007 FIFA World Cup U-20, which fetched him the Adidas Bronze Ball.
He had a passion for playing football from a young age and was a part of the São Paulo’s team, which won the U-12 level of the Dallas Cup (2001), held in the United States of America. He honed his football skills at the Club Monterrey before moving to the Fútbol Club Barcelona Juvenil A in 2002. Between 2002 and 2006, Giovani Dos Santos helped his team to win the regional title and qualification in the Youth Copa del Rey. His brilliant performances helped his team to win the national title of the Juvenil A category. He was moved to the senior squad of the FC Barcelona and scored in his debut match, a friendly against the Danish club, AGF Aarhus, on July 29, 2006. His competitive debut was played against Athletic Bilbao, which was a 3-1 win for his side on September 2, 2007. Giovani Dos Santos helped his team win 3-0 against Lyon on September 19, 2007, in the Champions League match. By scoring a hat-trick for FC Barcelona against Real Murcia, on May 17, 2008, Giovani Dos Santos helped his side to a 5-3 victory.
He joined the English Premier League side, the Tottenham Hotspur Football Club on June 10, 2008. Giovani Dos Santos helped the Spurs’ team to an 8-0 win against the Tavernes in the pre-season tour of the 2008-09 season. His significant contribution helped the Spurs to win 5-1 against Leyton Orient and Norwich City. By scoring a goal against Borussia Dortmund team, Giovani Dos Santos helped his side to win 3-0 and bag the Feyenoord Jubileum Tournament trophy.
