Obscure South American of the Week Dieciséis

Name – Hugo Rodallega Martinez

Affiliation – Necaxa

Reason for Coolness – He has hair like a mid-90s gangsta rapper

Reason for Obscurity – He has hair like a mid-90s gangsta rapper

Young Hugo is currently making headlines with a move to join Steve Bruce’s South American revolution at Wigan apparently on the cards early next year, after impressing for Mexican outfit Necaxa over the last two years. Originally from Columbia, Senor Rodallega announced his arrival on the scene a few years ago when he became the all time top goal scorer of the South American qualification for the FIFA U-20 World Cup, scoring 11 goals in just 9 games.

A nice little debut season for home team Deportes Quindio produced a rather healthy haul of 31 goals in 32 games, earning a (ahem) dream move to the Mexican top flight. After pretty uninspiring spells at Monterrey and the awesomely-named Atlas, Hugo moved to Necaxa for the 2007 Apertura and made an instant impact with 9 goals in 15 games. Since joining the central Mexico outfit he has averaged almost a goal every other game, and subsequently bagged a spot in the improving Columbian national team.

So we’re looking forward to seeing him at the JJB in January then, if you believe the press reports, he looks like he could do a pretty decent job alongside the quality of Zaki, Palacios and Valencia.

Finally, here’s him scoring a pretty sweet goal last season and celebrating with an even sweeter dance. Sorry, this is literally the only video I could find: