Good to know: birthday boy Hugo Novoa
Hugo celebrates his 19th birthday on Monday | 19 facts on our youngster
Happy birthday, Hugo! Hugo Novoa was born on 24th January 2003 in Spain and moved to RB Leipzig at the age of 16. Here are 19 things to know about the 19-year-old.
1. Hugo Novoa was born in Bertamiráns in the Galician province of A Coruña – the same region as Leipzig teammate Angeliño.
2. Hugo’s full name is Hugo Novoa Ramos.
3. At the age of 10, Hugo left his local team Bertamiráns to join the Deportivo La Coruña academy, where Angeliño also began his career.
4. At 15 years old, he was called up to the Spain junior national team for the first time.
5. At 16, Hugo joined RB Leipzig, initially linking up with the U17s team.
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6. In his first season as a Red Bull, Hugo played 18 games in the U17 Bundesliga North/North East and was involved in 13 goals (five goals, eight assists), before the season was cut short due to the Coronavirus pandemic. He also featured twice in the UEFA Youth League for the U19s.
7. Hugo played three games for Spain U17s alongside current Leipzig teammate Ilaix Moriba, and took on current Bundesliga players Florian Wirtz of Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Luca Netz of Borussia Mönchengladbach. Moriba now represents Guinea and is currently competing in the Africa Cup of Nations.
8. Novoa was named in the first-team squad for the first time for the Champions League finals tournament in Lisbon in 2019/20. He returned to the U19 squad last season, but also made the matchday squad in the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal for the first team. This season, Hugo has been a permanent member of the first team squad. Before making his professional debut, Novoa made another five appearances for the U19s in the Bundesliga, youth DFB-Pokal and Youth League, scoring three goals and registering one assist.
9. Hugo made his professional debut on MD9 against SpVgg Greuther Furth on 23rd October 2021, replacing superstar Christopher Nkunku in the 85th minute.
10. Three minutes after coming on, Novoa scored his first professional goal. Volleying in from a Dominik Szoboszlai cross, it was his first touch of the ball.
11. The goal made Hugo the youngest Bundesliga goalscorer in the history of RB Leipzig – at an age of 18 years, 8 months and 29 days.
12. Three days after making his professional debut in the Bundesliga, Novoa made his first professional start in the 1-0 win over SV Babelsberg 03 in the second round of the DFB-Pokal. In the round of 16, he came off the bench as RBL defeated Hansa Rostock 2-0.
13. Hugo has made five appearances so far in the Bundesliga.
14. He made his Champions League debut on Matchday 5 of the current season in the 5-0 win over Club Brugges.
15. During his RBL youth career, Hugo was involved in more than one goal in a game on five occasions and scored two braces.
16. Hugo converted his only penalty as a RB Leipzig player – for the U17s against FC St. Pauli, when he also assisted two more goals. Hugo scored a direct free kick against the same opposition this year for the U19s.
17. Hugo enjoys playing against teams from the north of Germany. Against St. Pauli, he’s scored two goals and provided two assists in three games, against Hamburger SV he has two goals and one assist in two games, while scoring two goals in one game against SV Werder Bremen.
18. Hugo Novoa signed a two-year contract extension until 2024 in January 2022.
19. Hugo made his first Bundesliga start on Matchday 20 of the 21/22 season and registered the game’s first shot on target.