The Colombian Balotelli: Villa whiz Duran earns a new nickname

The 20-year-old player is enjoying a breakout season this year, making a significant impact for Villa by scoring 6 important goals in just 10 appearances. Most of these goals have been scored as a substitute, highlighting his impact coming off the bench.

Duran continued his goalscoring streak for his national side, netting his second Colombia goal with a powerful strike that placed the side into second in the South American FIFA World Cup qualifying group. 

He spoke after the game about his impact on both Villa and Colombia and his ambitions with each side. 

Duran said, "You always hope to come in and make an impact. I always think before I go on the pitch that I can score. I tell myself 'if I've done it before, why not now' and luckily it happened," said the striker, no doubt recalling those efforts against Everton and Bayern Munich as inspiration. 

"I think it is better to qualify this year. We are going to aim for the highest. We continue working to get to first place in the qualifiers." 

On social media Colombian news channels picked up an intriguing nickname for the young striker: “The Colombian Balotelli”. 

The Italian striker scored many similar goals with such power throughout his career with Liverpool and Manchester City in the Premier League and also Serie A sides such as AC Milan and Inter Milan, which makes the comparison more special even if Duran is not causing mayhem off the pitch.