Can Giovani dos Santos put himself back on El Tri’s radar?

Mexican attacker Giovani dos Santos was named MLS Player of the Week after scoring twice with the LA Galaxy against Houston.

Carson, Calif. – After a couple of months of injuries and an even longer time adapting to the MLS game, Giovani dos Santos reappeared in a big way for the LA Galaxy as he was named MLS Player of the Week.

Dos Santos’ two-goal performance in the 4-1 win over Houston Dynamo last Friday comes at an exciting time for the Mexican forward, who played further up the field in Robbie Keane’s absence. Still, questions about his reliability and form remain to be answered as the 26-year-old has been known to struggle with consistency. And those aren’t the only concerns as a possible call-up to the Mexican National Team is still uncertain.

For now, dos Santos tries to keep those worries away from his thoughts, focusing instead on the task at hand with the Galaxy, who will be facing an undefeated Real Salt Lake on Saturday.

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“I try not to pay attention to what’s being said about me,” dos Santos said after Thursday training session with the Galaxy. “After being injured for a long time and come back and winning the game with two goals, I feel very happy.”

Dos Santos has yet to be considered by Mexican National Team coach Juan Carlos Osorio, who has a tall task ahead with the upcoming Copa America Centenario. Still, performances like the one in Houston will surely put dos Santos on his radar. The Galaxy star is not saying much about the subject, but he remains resolute that despite the injuries he’s still the same exciting player Mexico once knew.

“I’ve been the same Gio as before,” he said. “You can see that I’m doing much better from a physical standpoint. I’ve worked really hard and I feel confident after the team won and I scored two goals.”

Still, he knows that he’ll need more quality performances in order to be considered once again. A good showing against RSL would represent another important step towards that goal.

“I have to keep working. We all know in this sport there are good times and bad times but you always have to hold your head up high,” he said, adding that he’s aware that playing in MLS might represent a bigger challenge to his hopes of being called up as he’s fighting for spots with stars who play in Europe and Liga MX.

“I think many times MLS is underestimated,” he explained. “But I think that MLS is a league that is being talked about around the world. I have a lot of friends and players who have told me about their interest of coming here.”

Giovani dos Santos’ chances for a Mexico call-up are unclear, though a coach like Osorio is fully aware of the level played in MLS as he coached in the league earlier in his career. That, and dos Santos’ belief that good performances will pay off, might just see him return to El Tri.

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“People will speak well of you as long as you’re working hard in any part of the world. It doesn’t matter if it’s in the United States, England or Spain,” he concluded.

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