'He sparked delirium at La Rosaleda' - Goal.com World Player of the Week Roque Santa Cruz

Dec 24, 2012 12:00:00 PM

In a script that could not have been written, the festively-named striker wins our accolade for his two goals which helped Malaga beat Real Madrid on Saturday

World Player of the Week

Roque Santa-Cruz
AGE	31
POSITION	Attacker
FOR	Malaga
WEEK IN NUMBERS
APPS (GOALS SCORED)	1 (2)
TIME ON PITCH	25
PREVIOUS WINS	0

Malaga	3-2	Real Madrid

With Christmas Day less than 24 hours away, what were the odds of the winner of Goal.com World Player of the Week having a name so very festive?

Roque Santa Cruz is no novelty winner, however, as he scored twice against Real Madrid to secure a home win for Malaga, leaving them in fourth heading into the winter break with Jose Mourinho's men just two points ahead of them in La Liga.

Unwanted at Manchester City by current manager Roberto Mancini, Santa Cruz has been a nomadic figure in the footballing world for the past couple of years. A transfer deadline day signing, the Paraguay forward will head into 2013 on a resounding positive note. And the icing on the cake is that his parent club were dumped out of the Champions League by Madrid, whereas the Andalusian club remain in the European trophy hunt and ended their year with a morale-boosting victory over the reigning league champions.

Goal.com Spain's Adrian Boullosa had this to say on the forward's terrific performance on Saturday night: "Santa Cruz was the main character in the hugely impressive victory over Real Madrid. The Paraguayan took less than half an hour to knock down Jose Mourinho's team - scoring two goals and sparking delirium in La Rosaleda.

"Santa Cruz is becoming an important man for Manuel Pellegrini. The Chilean coach has already used him in 14 games and, although he has not always been that successful in front of goal, his double should give him the confidence to continue competing with Javier Saviola for a spot up front."

Congratulations to Roque Santa Cruz, Goal.com's 188th World Player of the Week winner!

The Shortlist

Erik Lamela - Roma Pascal Patrick: "Lamela tore Milan to shreds on Saturday! Star of the show, for sure." Goal.com's Carlo Gaganese: "Lamela has exploded this season in Serie A. The sky really is the limit."
Jeremain Lens - PSV Iyup Rijk: "6-1 PSV won this weekend. Lens was the main instigator. I think he was great." Goal.com's Joe Wright: "His goals began the NAC mauling and mean his club top the Eredevisie at Christmas."
Lomana LuaLua - Karabukspor Ukasha O: "LuaLua stole the show for me." Goal.com's Enis Koylu: "Ended Aykut Kocaman's reign at Fenerbahce with his two goals, and helped his team record an historic win over the Istanbul giants."
Izwan Mahbud - Singapore Bob Henri: "Izwan Mahbud is my suggestion. Denied Thailand victory with save after save." Goal.com's Miles Chambers: "Singapore have him to thank for AFF Cup success after his goalkeeping heroics."

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