Vela or Dos Santos?

January 20th, 2009 | by: Andrea | Comments(5)

Both have been hailed as the future for both Mexican football and world football. They’ve gone through similar paths, yet they’ve been so different. Both are the U-17 World Cup 2005 winners from Peru and they were arguably some of the best players there. Both seriously started their careers in Spain, and now they’ve have immigrated to England. At the same time. To rival clubs. Who are they? It’s Carlos Vela of Arsenal and Giovanni Dos Santos of Tottenham Hotspurs.

Now the question is: Who’s better?

Carlos Vela

Carlos Vela was born on March 1, 1989 in Cancun, Quintana Roo. He started his football with Chivas, alongside his brother Alejandro Vela who now plays at Cruz Azul.

He never played in the Primera Division of Mexican football, but his break came when he was selected for the U-17 World Cup in Peru. There he scored a total of 5 years and earned the golden boot.

After the world cup, Chivas’ Vergara offered to sign him but Vela made sure that the terms included relocating his family from the recently stricken Cancun area. Vergara agreed and the move was made.

Several European clubs had become interested in the young Vela and his performances catapulted him high into their eyes. Arsenal quickly won his signature and he signed for £125,000 and a five year deal. Arsenal tried to get a Special Talent permit, but that was denied and he was quickly loaned out.

Salamanca and Osasuna took him in Spain and he received good reviews especially for a performance against Real Madrid with Osasuna.

He finally returned to England for the 08/09 season. At Arsenal he has scored a hat trick in the Carling Cup while wearing the number 12 shirt. He has played in the Premier League but has yet to score although he has had influential performances, helping Arsenal to eventual wins.

With Mexico he has scored a total of 4 goals with the senior side.

Giovanni Dos Santos

“Gio” Dos Santos was born May 11, 1989 in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon. His father is Brazilian footballer Gerardo Dos Santos a.k.a “Zizinho” who played with Leon and America. Gio is half Brazilian and half Mexican. His younger brother Jonathon is currently in the youth categories with Barcelona.

By the time he went into the U-17 world cup in Peru, Gio had already been with Barcelona since 2001. At the tournament he won the silver ball for the 2nd best player in the tournament.

In 2007 with the U-20 team Mexico was eliminated from the tournament but Gio received the Bronze ball as 3 best player of the tournament.

Also in 2007, Gio joined Barcelona’s first team squad. There he was continually referred to as the new Ronaldinho because of his appearance and skills. He made several appearances in La Liga but his standout performance would be that in which he scored a hat trick during the last game of the 2008 season against Real Murcia. That game would also be his last as he joined Tottenham the same summer because despite of his comparisons to the former World Player of the Year, he had failed to shine as some of his other peers had such as Bojan Krkic.

While at Spurs he started out having a great pre-season. He was a major influence in games and scored 2 goals himself. Unfortunately, a reoccurring ankle injury has left him away from the field and when he was OK, the coaching staff didn’t consider him in the starting side.

Noticeably, he was taken out drunk from Spur’s Christmas party.

With the senior Mexican team he has yet to score.

These two boys/men, along with a few others still in Mexico, are the future of the team. In the youth categories they were a forced to be reckoned with. Now they’ve grown and their potential is still there and the extent is yet to be seen.

Of the two players, who do YOU think is better?

Carlos Vela Highlights

Giovanni Dos Santos Highlights

My vote’s for Carlos Vela