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SBI World Cup Man of the Match: Giovani dos Santos

dosSantos- Zimbio

By TIM FONTENAULT

After two goals were wrongly waved as being offside, it looked like it was going to be one of those nights for Mexico. Despite controlling the ball and the pace of the match, it seemed El Tri was staring a scoreless draw in the face.

Thanks to a rebound goal from Oribe Peralta, Mexico escaped Natal with three points and a 1-0 win over the Indomitable Lions.

Peralta will get the headlines and the praise, but it is Giovani dos Santos, the man who created the goal and had two wrongly disallowed, who claims the SBI Man of the Match award.

Dos Santos put the ball in the net twice in the first half, but referee Wilmar Roldán agreed with the decision of his linesman, who controversially raised the flag both times. In the 61st minute, dos Santos broke through as Mexico pushed forward on the attack. He nearly beat Cameroon goalkeeper Charles Itandje, but the ball still fell to Peralta, who knocked it in.

For creating multiple chances, including the goal, and unfairly being disallowed two goals of his own, Dos Santos beats out Peralta and goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa for Man of the Match honors.

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What did you think of Dos Santos’ performance? Who stood out the most to you in Mexico’s matchup with Cameroon?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Gio was the man today. No doubt. I’m happy for him that he doesn’t wear girly headbands and hairdos anymore. I think that’s led all the difference

    Reply
    • ha. that reminds me of Charles Barkley’s comments saying LeBron wouldn’t win a championship until he stopped biting his nails while on the bench.

      Reply
  2. All right. I’ve been too cynical. Mexico deserved to win it because they played better soccer. And the refs are truly incompetent, not evil.

    Reply
  3. So far we are off to a horrible start with the refs. I’m really disappointed by the refs. We really should have replays from the booth to fix these huge mistakes

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    • I am getting SO sick of all the conspiracy cries following all the bad calls and generally poor officiating so far. It’s unsubstantiated and uninspired commenting that requires no original or creative thought, and it provokes no meaningful conversation.

      The truth is that it will happen with no meaning or premeditation, yet produce severe consequences in some cases. There will be bad calls against the USMNT and I will be fuming, but I won’t put on a foil hat.

      Reply

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