Jonathan Dos Santos

Jonathan Dos Santos was expected to follow in his older brothers Giovani's footsteps and lead the Mexican U-17 team to glory but that never happened as former youth national team Coach Jesus Ramirez left him out of the squad that would be competing in the CONCACAF U-17 Championship.

Not only was Jonathan left out of the squad but also embarrassed in the process as he was stripped off his Tricolor uniform at the airport on his way home. Jonathan was never called back by Ramirez and the Tricolor team failed to reach the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup. The comparisons with Giovani, who won the tourney two years earlier, stopped and Jonathan faded into obscurity.

Jonathan, however, continued working in the Barcelona youth squads and soon news of a possible call up to the Spanish youth national team began making the rounds. The Mexican media began questioning Jonathan's prior treatment. Jonathan received even more attention as he was included in Barcelona's first team pre-season squad that tourned the United States.

While Jonthan's career has been limited to the Barcelona youth squads Mexico boss Javier Aguirre has seen fit to call up the younger of the Dos Santos. Perhaps, it is a move to cap tie the upstart or perhaps he is convinced that the lad can compete for a spot in Mexico's senior national team. In any case on September 30th Jonathan should be making his debut against Colombia.