Full name: Alan Pulido
Country: Mexico
Club: Tigres UANL
Position: Striker
Profile
Alan Pulido might have only broken into the senior Mexico setup in recent months, but he has already amassed plenty of medals at youth level.
A part of the Mexico squad which finished third at the 2011 U20 World Cup, the 23-year-old Tigres striker has also been prolific for the national team U23s, scoring 11 times in 12 games. He also helped Mexico to victory in the 2012 Toulon Tournament.
He made a dream start to his senior Mexico career, scoring a hat-trick on his debut against South Korea in January. He added a fourth international goal in a friendly against the USA to leave his goal record at four goals in three games.
Goal.com and ESPN Mexico expert Tom Marshall, who analysed the Mexican World Cup team for Team 33 spoke to me about Pulido's attributes:
Key Stats
Pulido scored five goals in 17 games for Tigres in this season’s Mexican Clausura Championship and adds to the nine in 15 starts that he amassed in the Aperatura (opening championship).
According to Squawka, just one of those goals has come from outside the box and most of have come off his right foot.
This summer
Based on his explosive form for Mexico, Pulido has given himself an outside chance of leading the line for Mexico at the World Cup, although he will have to battle past Oribe Peralta and Manchester United’s Chicharito Hernandez.
Pulido has been linked with a move to Europe this summer with Olympiakos hot favourites to seal his signature.
As you can hear in the inteview with Tom Marshall, this World Cup might come a little too soon for him.