“Giovani dos Santos knows exactly what happened in the 2014 World Cup” - Miguel Herrera
Miguel Herrera was in charge of the Mexico men’s national team from 2013 to 2015 and he talked about the loss against Netherlands in the round of 16.
Earlier this week the former Club América manager, Miguel Herrera, criticized Giovani dos Santos for complaining too much when he suffered a little injury and that is why he failed to reach his full potential. Herrera said that “when Giovani gets injured it takes a lot for him to recover.”
The first time manager and player linked up was between 2013 to 2015 when Herrera was in charge of the Mexico men’s national team. The manager won the Gold Cup and took the national team to the 2014 World Cup where they lost 2-1 against Netherlands in the round of 16. In that game Giovani was a starter, scored a goal, but was substituted in the second half.
Many journalists and fans criticized Herrera for taking out Giovani dos Santos, because he was having a great game and was a threat to the opposing defense. But during an interview with TUDN, the Mexican manager explained why dos Santos was taken out of that game.
“Giovani was the one who asked me to take him out of the game, it is that simple. He knows exactly what happened in the 2014 World Cup. We wanted to advance to the next round, but during the water break in the 25th minute, Gio came up to me and said that he had blister on his feet due to the heat and he wanted to be substituted,” he said.
Also Herrera wanted to make clear that he likes Giovani a lot and he has nothing but good things to say about him. To the point if he gets a job in a team and dos Santos is a free agent, he wouldn’t think twice about signing him.
“I believe I have a good relationship with Gio, but if he gets mad at me there is nothing I can do because that is my opinion in my experience dealing with him. He is a player that I like a lot and I think he is very talented,” he added.
Giovani replied to Miguel Herrera
Using his Twitter account, Giovani dos Santos sent a message to Miguel Herrera. "Every story has two sides. I was in the best moment of the game, I felt good, I was healthy, but Herrera decided to take me out. Off course I was mad when he took me out because these are the games you want to play as a footballer.
"If no one believes me then re-watch the game and show me when I go to the bench and ask for a sub. I insist, I wanted to play the entire game that day and even if I had blisters on my feet, which it is not true, I would've gave my all the entire game."