El Salvador vs Mexico: Giovani Dos Santos Will Make or Break Mexicans

The Mexicans should easily beat El Savador, but it depends on which Giovani dos Santos will show up.

Will it be the one who scored two goals against Brazil and another against Guyana, or the one that struggled just to see the field as a member of Tottenham?

The 23-year-old forward is the backbone to the Mexican scoring attack, and it sure seems like he is playing the best soccer of the year for his national team. He is shooting the ball with pinpoint accuracy and is taking calculated risks that aren’t coming back to haunt him.

There is no question his dribbling skills and headers are elite. They are the strongest parts of his game, and that makes him a deadlier scorer. When Mexico faces El Salvador tonight at 9:30 p.m. ET, the pressure is on for dos Santos to keep up his torrid pace.

It’s his aggressiveness early on that really set the tone, which is also an issue at times. Mexico really let off the gas pedal against Guyana and that led to a sloppy second half. They can’t afford to do that against a frisky team with nothing to lose.

Mexico, ranked 19th in the current FIFA rankings, is widely regarded as the top team in the CONCACAF and enters their game against El Salvador as the sizable favorites.

Sure, the always consistent Javier Hernandez is going to be relied upon, and sure the defense must keep playing spectacularly stingy when the ball is on their side of the field, but it all comes back to dos Santos.

He provides the tenacity on offense and has suddenly even played better on defense (something rarely seen) for his country. Nobody can say for sure if dos Santos upped his level of play now that he’s playing for his country—but it sure seems like it.

The Mexicans are on the right track to qualify for the 2014 World Cup. As long as dos Santos shows up and stays aggressive, and doesn’t let his bad habits of the spring pop up, the Mexicans will cruise to another easy win.

Prediction: Mexico 3, El Salvador 1

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