Dos Santos Enjoys Finest Senior-Team Moment

Giovani Dos Santos carried Mexico to their fifth Gold Cup title and enjoyed his finest personal glory since 2005.

Jul 27, 2009 2:52:26 AM

More On :  Mexico
Giovani Dos Santos - Mexico-Haiti (Mexsport)
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Giovani Dos Santos was a fundamental player in Mexico’s 5-0 win over the United States in the Gold Cup 2009 final, and in Mexico’s overall run in the tournament. The Tottenham player improved over the course of the tournament, and helped propel the Mexican team to the final.  

The 20-year-old was voted the best player of the tournament, but all that is on Dos Santos’ mind is improvement.  
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“I'm getting better. I believe I took some of the pressure off of me. I feel a lot more relaxed on the field. But I think the team is the most important thing, we did some great work,” Dos Santos said in a press conference. “The team was also fundamental. I’m working little by little. We achieved something important, but there’s the 12th of August, a World Cup…I still have much ahead of me. I’m happy with what I got today, and I hope to continue this way.”

Both national teams brought alternative players to those who usually feature, but Dos Santos stated that in the end the better team won.  

“The game was played by national team players. We didn't have all of our players from qualifying either. We won the tournament and it does not matter who was here and who wasn't. We were better than them. That's the coach's decision, to make up the roster and to fill out the lineup.”


After facing much criticism, Dos Santos mentioned the improvement of the team.  

“It gives us a lot of confidence. The team took a great step forward in this process. We worked very hard and took a lot of criticism but we fought with pride and heart. I believe we're headed in the right direction.”

As the World Cup qualifying game on August 12th approaches, Dos Santos assures that the victory gave the Mexican squad confidence.  

“This gives us confidence. We know the U.S. has been doing some good work and reached the Confederations Cup final. This gives us an injection of motivation, confidence, assuredness that we have some youngsters of great quality, those who are here and those who aren't. We can enjoy this victory now and think about Aug. 12 later.”

Now that the CONCACAF tournament is over, Dos Santos will return to his club team, Tottenham Hotspurs, to figure out his future.  

“Right now I just want to enjoy (the win). During the week I’ll return to my club to know what will happen. Now, I just want to enjoy the moment.”

On-site reporting done by Terence Steed.

Andrea Martinez, Goal.com

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