World Cup: Mexican soap opera takes a new twist

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The ongoing soap opera involving the Mexican World Cup team and its controversial decision to cut talented midfielder Jonathan dos Santos took another bizarre turn when the 20-year-old told a Spanish newspaper that he talked his brother, Giovani, out of quitting the team over the snub.

To review: On Monday, with his team one player over the World Cup roster limit of 23 players, Mexican Coach Javier Aguirre cut Jonathan Dos Santos, who has been slowed by injury the last five weeks. Jonathan, who was said to be in tears after receiving the news, sneaked out of the team hotel in Germany without addressing reporters. But the boys’ father, a former first-division player in Mexico, did not stay quiet, first telling a Mexican TV network that Jonathan would never again play for Mexico and later telling a local newspaper than Giovani, who plays a key role in the Mexican offense, also wanted to quit the team less than two weeks before the World Cup opener.

Giovani has not spoken publicly since then, but Aguirre and the other players have tried to downplay the controversy, with Aguirre saying Giovani was ‘motivated’ to play and ‘absolutely’ understood the decision to send his brother home.

Now comes Jonathan’s statements.

‘The day they gave me the news was one of the most complicated days of my life,’ he told Sport, a daily newspaper in Barcelona, Spain. ‘I dreamed of being at the World Cup with my brother. Luck was not on our side, but I’ve settled down with the support of my family.

‘Those are things that happen in football. I can only keep my head high and try to come out ahead.’

As for his brother, Jonathan said, ‘I had to convince him to stay. He was very hurt because we thought about playing at the World Cup together and it was a hard blow. I talked to him and told him he had to stay so he wouldn’t let everything he’d worked for go to waste.’

And regarding his father’s comments that he will not play for again for Mexico, Jonathan, who is half-Brazilian, tried to place those in context as well.

‘My father went through a heated moment,’ he said. ‘Time will tell. I don’t want to talk about this now. I have not closed the doors to anything. A lot of things can happen in the world of football.’

So there.

Turn in tomorrow for another episode.

-- Kevin Baxter in Brussels