U.E.F.A. Player Spotlight: Two La Liga prodigies who never reached their maximum potential – Jonathan Dos Santos 🇲🇽 and Antonio “Toni” Sanabria 🇵🇾

1) Jonathan Dos Santos 🇲🇽 – Often overshadowed during his career by his older brother Giovanni, midfielder Jonathan Dos Santos
appeared to be heading for superstardom when he joined Barcelona F.C. (La Liga–Spain) in 2009. Born in Monterrey, Mexico to former
Brazilian midfielder Zizinho and a Mexican mother, Jonathan made his senior debut for the Mexican national team in a friendly
match against Colombia on September 30, 2009.

It all began for Jonathan while he was in France competing along with his
elder-brother Giovanni in a youth soccer tournament. Barcelona F.C. scouts witnessing the tournament were impressed with Jonathan’s performance and
decided to bring him and his elder-brother to Barcelona F.C.’s famed La Masia Academy for a trial. Dos Santos would commence the 2008-
2009 season as the captain of Barcelona F.C.’s Juvenil A team, obtaining Spanish citizenship in the process.

Dos Santos was selected by Barcelona F.C.’s B team manager Luis Enrique to form part of the second team in the summer of 2009, illustrating
Barcelona F.C.’s confidence in the rising prodigy. Dos Santos was eventually called up by manager Pep Guardiola for his first
official game with Barcelona F.C.’s A team in the Supercopa de España against Athletic Bilbao F.C. (La Liga–Spain), although he was eventually ruled
ineligible and had to sit the game out. He would go on to have periodic moments of brilliance while at Barcelona F.C., although
he could never solidify a starting position on Barcelona F.C. ‘s A team star-studded roster. He eventually signed a five-year
deal with Spanish club Villareal F.C. (La Liga–Spain) on July 9, 2014, enabling him to play with his brother Giovanni. After a few relatively-uneventful seasons with Villareal F.C., Jonathan got transferred on July 27, 2017
to his current team, the Los Angeles Galaxy F.C. (Major League Soccer–United States) of the U.S.-based Major League Soccer.

Since 2009 when Dos Santos began his senior career until as of the writing of this blog, the 27 year-old Jonathan Dos Santos has tallied a
grand total of 12 goals. The aforementioned cumulative goal total had been accumulated during his spells at Barcelona F.C. B,
Barcelona F.C. A, Villareal F.C., Los Angeles Galaxy F.C. and the Mexican national team, respectively. Overall, Dos Santos’s career can be
characterized as promising (with Barcelona F.C.) in the beginning, as being full of unreached potential and being
slightly-overlooked for his elder brother, Giovanni.

2) Antonio “Toni” Sanabria 🇵🇾 – After having spent four years and graduating from Barcelona F.C.’s (La Liga–Spain) La Masia academy, the future looked
bright for the Paraguayan forward, Antonio “Toni” Sanabria. Born in San Lorenzo, Paraguay, Sanabria commenced his sporting career
playing five-a-side futsal, eventually migrating to 11-a-side soccer. He represented Paraguay’s under-17 national team between 2012-
2013, scoring an impressive six goals in eight appearances. Sanabria joined Barcelona F.C.’s La Masia academy in 2009 at the
tender age of 13. After performing reasonably well with Barcelona F.C.’s Juvenil A team, Sanabria was promoted to Barcelona F.C.’s B
team in August of 2013. On September 29, 2013 he made his professional senior debut, playing the last 22 minutes in a 0–1 home
loss against Spanish club R.C.D. Mallorca F.C. (La Liga–Spain). On January 29, 2014, Sanabria joined the Italian side Sassuolo F.C. (Serie A–Italy). He made his Serie A debut on March 23 2014, replacing Davide Biondini in a 0–1 loss at Udinese F.C. (Serie A–Italy). Sanabria would go on to
sign with another Italian club, A.S. Roma F.C. (Serie A–Italy) in July of 2014. As well as being a member of the first team squad, Sanabria also
featured for the Roma Primavera squad in the 2014–15 U.E.F.A. Youth League, scoring two goals in the 3–2 defeat against
Bayern Munich F.C. (Bundesliga–Germany) on November 5, 2014. On August 11, 2015 he returned to Spain, after inking a one-year loan deal with La Liga
side Sporting de Gijón F.C. (La Liga–Spain). Sanabria made his La Liga senior debut on 23 August 2015, starting in a 0–0 home draw against Real Madrid F.C. (La Liga–Spain).
On July 15 2016, Sanabria signed a five-year deal with his current team, Real Betis F.C. (La Liga–Spain). On September 20, 2017 he scored the
winning goal in Real Betis F.C.’s 1-0 win over Real Madrid F.C.. As of the writing of this blog, the 22-year-old Sanabria’s senior
career has included stints with Barcelona F.C. B, Sassuolo F.C., A.S. Roma F.C., Sporting Gijon F.C., Real Betis F.C. and Paraguay’s under-20 and
men’s national team, respectively. He has made a combined 102 appearances for club and country, netting a cumulative 26
goals in the process. All in all, Sanabria’s career began on the fast track (with Barcelona F.C.’s La Masia academy), but
seemingly never blossomed into one of the world’s elite strikers à la Radamel Falcao (Colombia) or Carlos Tevez.
(Argentina).

Below are some Jonathan Dos Santos & Antonio “Toni” Sanabria career statistics and achievements:

Jonathan Dos Santos Short Biography and Fast Facts – 🇲🇽

Jonathan Dos Santos Career Statistics and Achievements – 🇲🇽

Antonio “Toni” Sanabria Short Biography and Fast Facts – 🇵🇾

Antonio “Toni” Sanabria Career Statistics and Achievements – 🇵🇾

Jonathan dos Santos Career Highlights (Clubs and National Team) – 🇲🇽

Jonathan Dos Santos Highlights (2019–Los Angeles Galaxy F.C.) – 🇲🇽

2019 C.O.N.C.A.C.A.F. Gold Cup Finals Match–Mexico vs. United States–1-0 Jonathan Dos Santos Goal (July 7, 2019–Soldier Field–Chicago, Illinois) – 🇺🇸

Jonathan Dos Santos Highlights (2018–Los Angeles Galaxy F.C.) – 🇲🇽

2017 M.L.S. Regular Season–New York City F.C. vs Los Angeles Galaxy F.C.–2-0 Jonathan Dos Santos Match Highlights (August 12, 2017–Dignity Health Sports Park–Carson, California) – 🇺🇸

Jonathan Dos Santos Discusses His First World Cup Call-Up (F.I.F.A World Cup Russia 2018) – 🇷🇺

2018 M.L.S. Regular Season–Real Salt Lake F.C. vs Los Angeles Galaxy F.C.—2-0 Jonathan Dos Santos Goal (September 1, 2018–Dignity Health Sports Park–Carson, California) – 🇺🇸

2019 M.L.S. Regular Season–Orlando City S.C. vs Los Angeles Galaxy F.C.—2-0 Jonathan Dos Santos Goal (May 24, 2019–Dignity Health Sports Park–Carson, California) – 🇺🇸

2017 M.L.S. Regular Season–Minnesota United F.C. vs Los Angeles Galaxy F.C.—0-3 Jonathan Dos Santos Goal (October 15, 2017–Dignity Health Sports Park–Carson, California) – 🇺🇸

Antonio “Toni” Sanabria Highlights (2015/2016–Real Sporting De Gijón F.C.) – 🇵🇾

Antonio “Toni” Sanabria Highlights (2017/2018–Real Betis F.C.) – 🇵🇾

2019 Serie A Regular Season–Genoa F.C. vs Empoli F.C.—3-1 Match Highlights Including Antonio “Toni” Sanabria Goal (January 28, 2019–Stadio Carlo Castellani–Empoli, Italy) – 🇮🇹

2017 La Liga Regular Season–Real Betis F.C. vs Real Madrid F.C.—1-0 Match Highlights Including Antonio “Toni” Sanabria Goal (September 20, 2017–Santiago Bernabéu–Madrid, Spain) – 🇪🇸

Sources: Wikipedia–https://www.en.wikipedia.org, F.I.F.A.–https://www.fifa.com, YouTube–https://www.youtube.com, E.S.P.N.– https://www.espn.com, United States Soccer– https://www.ussoccer.com, Major League Soccer–https://www.mlssoccer.com, Los Angeles Galaxy F.C.–https://www.lagalaxy.com, Real Sporting de Gijón F.C.–https://www.realsporting.com, Barcelona F.C.– https://www.fcbarcelona.com