LA Galaxy attacker Giovani dos Santos named to Mexico’s Confederations Cup roster

Good news for Gio! An in-form Giovani dos Santos has been named to the 23-man Mexico squad that will travel to Russia to participate in the Confederations Cup, beginning June 17th.

Also named to the team was Dos Santos’ brother Jonathan, a midfielder for Spanish club Villarreal; forward Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez, Mexico’s all-time leading scorer; Real Sociedad striker Carlos Vela; 21-year-old forward Hirving Lozano of Mexican club Pachuca; and ageless defender Rafa Marquez (he’s 38) of Liga MX team Atlas.

Mexico will play its first game June 18 against Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal before meeting New Zealand and Russia in its other pool-play matches. If Mexico finishes in the top two in its group, it will play its final game – either in the tournament final or in the third-place game – July 2.

As we mentioned a few weeks ago, a happy Gio is a productive Gio, but dos Santos could miss up to five games, when the Galaxy attack was firing on all cylinders. An unlucky break for LA.

How this plays out for the Galaxy ultimately depends on whether dos Santos is called up for the tournament. The World Cup dress rehearsal begins a week after the US match and runs through July 2nd, right when the schedule gets congested for LA, meaning Gio could miss potentially up to five matches. Ouch.