Juan Camilo Hernández
Club: Deportivo Pereira.Position: Attacking midfielder.
Born: 22 April 1999.
A year ago, Juan Camilo Hernández was wondering whether to give up on football all together. A draw against Leones had cost his side Pereira promotion, a dream had just gone up in smoke and the pressure to study was beginning to pinch. “I considered quitting that night, but I’m mightily glad I didn’t,” chuckles Hernández. Twelve months on and things look very different. Pereira are romping the second division and Hernández is the league’s top scorer having got 16 goals by mid-September. The youngest player to start a game for Pereira, aged 15, and the club’s youngest scorer, he was given the captaincy on a permanent basis this season; he’d just turned 17. Quick, cunning and with terrific vision, Hernández has so far packed a lot into his fledging professional career. Pereira won’t get to enjoy his talents much longer, though; Europe most surely beckons.
