Roque Santa Cruz
Roque Santa Cruz with Cruz Azul in 2015
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Roque Luis Santa Cruz Cantero | ||
| Date of birth | 16 August 1981 | ||
| Place of birth | Asunción, Paraguay | ||
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
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Current team
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Olimpia Asunción | ||
| Number | 24 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1990–1997 | Olimpia Asunción | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1997–1999 | Olimpia Asunción | 24 | (13) |
| 1999–2007 | Bayern Munich | 155 | (31) |
| 2005–2006 | Bayern Munich II | 6 | (2) |
| 2007–2009 | Blackburn Rovers | 57 | (23) |
| 2009–2013 | Manchester City | 20 | (3) |
| 2011 | → Blackburn Rovers (loan) | 9 | (0) |
| 2011–2012 | → Betis (loan) | 33 | (7) |
| 2012–2013 | → Málaga (loan) | 31 | (8) |
| 2013–2014 | Málaga | 43 | (9) |
| 2015–2016 | Cruz Azul | 10 | (4) |
| 2015–2016 | → Málaga (loan) | 17 | (2) |
| 2016– | Olimpia Asunción | 16 | (5) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 1999 | Paraguay U20 | 13 | (6) |
| 2000 | Paraguay U23 | 4 | (2) |
| 1999–2016 | Paraguay | 112 | (32) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23 January 2017. ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 27 November 2016 |
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Roque Luis Santa Cruz Cantero (locally: [ˈroke ˈlwis santa ˈkɾus kanˈteɾo]; born 16 August 1981) is a Paraguayan footballer who plays as a striker for Primera División Paraguaya club Olimpia Asunción. Santa Cruz represented Paraguay from 1999 to 2016. He is currently the leading scorer of the Albirroja with 32 goals and is also the sixth Paraguay national team player to reach 100 appearances.
Santa Cruz started his career with Olimpia Asunción, progressing through their youth system to the first-team squad where he made his debut at the age of 15 in 1997. He finished his career with the club having scored 13 goals in 24 Primera División appearances where Olimpia claimed the 1997, 1998 and 1999 Primera División titles. Santa Cruz scored three goals in four appearances for Paraguay at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship before debuting for the Paraguayan national team at the 1999 Copa América, where he scored three goals in four appearances. He immediately joined Bundesliga club Bayern Munich in August 1999 for a fee of €5 million, which was a record transfer fee in Paraguayan football, where he scored five goals in 28 league appearances in his first season. He faced a series of injuries and heavy competition from teammates Giovane Élber, Roy Makaay and Claudio Pizarro which limited his impact and restricted his appearances for the club.
Santa Cruz was part of the successful team for Bayern, winning numerous Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and DFB-Ligapokal titles. He also won the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League and the 2001 Intercontinental Cup. He left Bayern Munich in July 2007 to join Blackburn Rovers for a transfer fee of €5 million, where he scored 19 goals in the 2007–08 Premier League season. In June 2009, he joined Manchester City for a fee of £17.5 million on a four-year deal. Since his transfer, he was loaned out to Blackburn and Real Betis. A holder of a Spanish passport, Santa Cruz is eligible for unrestricted selection in all EU-based sides.
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