Jonathan Dos Santos (pictured) started Mexico's first two matches in the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup. (Photo: Mexsport)
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina – Jonathan Dos Santos didn’t make much of it. He had come off the field in the second half of a CONCACAF Gold Cup match on July 9 against Cuba. His brother, 26-year-old Giovani Dos Santos, entered as the replacement.
It was a moment that Jonathan said had never happened before.
“It was nice, but we didn’t really talk much about it since we’ve played together before,” the 25-year-old remarked. “Hopefully, we can continue to do so.”
That opportunity may present itself again when Mexico faces Trinidad & Tobago on Wednesday night in the final Group C match at Bank of America Stadium. A win will see the six-time Gold Cup champion finish in first place.
Regardless of which players are on the field for the encounter, though, head coach Miguel Herrera just wants to win.
“They (Trinidad) will need to come out and attack,” Herrera said on Tuesday. “We haven’t practiced so I can’t tell you how we will do it. I’d love to tell you. We will see it later tonight and you will see it tomorrow night how we will come out.”
The midfield combination of Jonathan Dos Santos in the middle with Hector Herrera on the right and Andres Guardado on the left has produced good results thus far. Table-topping Trinidad & Tobago, however, poses a more balanced threat. The Caribbean runner-up and the six-time Gold Cup champion met in the 2013 quarterfinals with Mexico posting a narrow 1-0 win on a late goal by Raul Jimenez.
“We want to win the group,” Herrera stressed. “It doesn’t matter what they do or what players they use. We will continue to do what we do and pressure them. I understand the demand for the Mexican national team to win. The demand is to be aggressive. We need to do that with the players we will have on the field.”
And that might include the Dos Santos brothers, who were also teammates at Villarreal in Spain’s La Liga last season.
“It would be nice to advance in this tournament playing together at the same time,” finished Jonathan Dos Santos.
