Giovani dos Santos

He came on as a substitute for Xavi in the 79th minute.

Giovani dos Santos Ramírez (born 11 May 1989) is a Mexican former professional footballer.

A versatile forward, dos Santos played 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.

Dos Santos was a member of the Mexico under-17 team that won the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship held in Peru.

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.

On 28 November 2006, Barcelona included Dos Santos in their 23-man squad for the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan.

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".

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.

During mid-2007, Dos Santos was once again invited to join Barcelona's senior squad on their pre-season tour.

On 29 August 2007, he received dual nationality 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.

Dos Santos made his UEFA Champions League debut on 20 September 2007 during a 3–0 home win against Lyon.

After playing one season, Dos Santos was transferred to Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur in 2008 in search for more playing time.

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 from Barcelona.

Barcelona reported that the transfer fee was €6 million with an additional €5 million payable depending on appearances for Tottenham.

Dos Santos was on target twice as Tottenham beat local Spanish side UD Tavernes in 8–0 on their 2008–09 pre-season tour.

He also played in Spurs' other pre-season games including 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.

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 scored his first competitive goal for Spurs in the UEFA Cup on 26 February 2009 against Shakhtar Donetsk.

After 12 first team appearances, he was sent on loan to Ipswich Town for the remainder of the season.

Dos Santos returned to Tottenham at the start of the 2009–10 season and his first game of the 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 managed to make only a substitute appearance in a 1–0 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Dos Santos' commitment was questioned by then Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp, who warned him to stay away from nightclubs and revealed that he was often late for training on Mondays.

In March 2009, Dos Santos signed on loan at Ipswich Town until the end of the season.

He made his debut on 14 March 2009, coming on as a substitute against Reading.

He scored his first league goal and the equaliser in the following game against Burnley.

Dos Santos scored and had an assist in Tottenham's UEFA Europa League group match against Shamrock Rovers on 29 September 2011 at White Hart Lane.

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.

He was also a member of Mexico's team that won the gold-medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Born in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Dos Santos joined Barcelona's academy of La Masia at age 13 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.

On 7 January 2012, he scored a goal and completed an assist for a 3–0 win against Cheltenham Town in the third round of the FA Cup.

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.