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

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."


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