Ricardo Ferretti News: 'Tuca' Adds Dos Santos Brothers To Preliminary Roster

Mexico's interim manager Ricardo "Tuca" Ferretti created quite the controversy last month when he intentionally left brothers Giovani and Jonathan Dos Santos off of El Tri's roster for two international friendlies against Trinidad and Tobago and Argentina.

After leading Mexico to draws in both matches, Ferretti wisely added the Dos Santos brothers to the 32-man preliminary roster. Giovani, who currently plays for the LA Galaxy, the reigning MLS Cup Champions, was perhaps the greatest omission off the team in their last two matches.

The reasons behind the Dos Santos brothers being left off the rosters were shrouded in secrecy, but many suspected that it was due to controversial tweets sent by the brothers after Miguel Herrera was fired for swinging at a TV reporter just one day after Mexico won the Gold Cup.

Both tweets praised Herrera for taking a swing at the member of the media that had verbally threatened Herrera and his family as he openly called for the coach's firing. The Dos Santos brothers called them "los perros" in relation to the way this particular media member acted.

We understand that the Mexican soccer federation wanted to distance themselves from Herrera and the situation. Therefore, tweets of support by the Dos Santos brothers may have been a media nightmare, and something that the Ferretti would certainly want to do without.

However, performance on the pitch is more important than a media scrum over a few tweets. Without the Dos Santos brothers, the team lacked two of the best players in the country.

In any case, the brothers are now back on the pitch, and ready to contribute as Mexico battles the United States on October 12^th for the Confederations Cup. Dos Santos joining the ranks is certainly interesting as he is set to square off against at least three of his LA Galaxy teammates in Gyasi Zardes, Omar Gonzalez and Alan Gordon.

Ferretti will wisely use Dos Santos off the bench and will probably decided in the weeks leading up to the match if he's going to start Jonathan or not in the midfield. Ferretti also left off 2014 World Cup hero Guillermo "Memo" Ochoa from the friendlies roster, but added him to the preliminary roster on Monday.

Ferretti will have his hands full with the Stars and Stripes on Monday the 12^th at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA. He will have a balanced roster to choose from, depending on what tactical formations he will want to go with, but it will be interesting to see who makes the final cut for the biggest match between the two rivals in quite some time.