Giovani dos Santos declines spot on Mexico squad for Copa America

LA Galaxy forward Giovani dos Santos rejected a call-up to the Mexico team for this summer's Copa America, said coach Juan Carlos Osorio, who left out Real Sociedad striker Carlos Vela.

Osorio said he talked to Dos Santos, and the player decided he didn't want to participate in the tournament.

"Giovani himself declined the invitation," Osorio said in a news conference Tuesday in Mexico City. "To be ethical, what was spoken about will stay between the two of us."

Dos Santos, 27, has not played for Mexico since the CONCACAF Gold Cup last summer. He has scored five goals in seven games for the Galaxy this season.

The decision regarding Vela was due to his form this season in La Liga, according to Osorio, who added that the player and coaching staff agreed a summer of rest would be better for the 27-year-old.

The other major absence was Villarreal's Jonathan dos Santos, whom Osorio said had been affected by injury.

Malaga goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa returns to the squad, while veteran Rafa Marquez has kept his place despite some indifferent form for Atlas this season.

Mexico is also defending its gold medal at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in August, and Osorio picked only two players for the Copa America, Hirving Lozano and Jesus Corona, who are also eligible as under-23s for the tournament, which fills the Copa America squad with experience.

El Tri is in Group C of the Copa America Centenario, alongside Jamaica, Uruguay and Venezuela. The squad opens its campaign against Uruguay on June 5 in Phoenix before traveling to Pasadena to face Jamaica on June 9 and to Houston to close the group stage against Venezuela on June 13.

Mexico warms up for the competition with friendlies against Paraguay (Atlanta on May 28) and Chile (San Diego on June 1) and goes into this summer's competition off the back of a 12-match undefeated streak.

The full squad:

Goalkeepers: Guillermo Ochoa (Malaga), Jesus Corona (Cruz Azul), Alfredo Talavera (Toluca)

Defenders: Paul Aguilar (Club America), Miguel Layun (Porto), Rafa Marquez (Atlas), Diego Reyes (Real Sociedad), Nestor Araujo (Santos Laguna), Hector Moreno (PSV), Yasser Corona (Queretaro), Jorge Torres Nilo (Tigres),Jesus Molina (Santos Laguna)

Midfielders:Jesus Manuel Corona (Porto), Hector Herrera (Porto), Hirving Lozano (Pachuca), Andres Guardado (PSV), Carlos Pena (Chivas), Jurgen Damm (Tigres), Javier Aquino (Tigres),Jesus Duenas (Tigres)

Forwards:Javier Hernandez (Bayer Leverkeusen), Raul Jimenez (Benfica), Oribe Peralta (Club America)