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EspañolROQUE SANTA CRUZ
'Roque Luis Santa Cruz' (born 16 August 1981 in Asunción) is a Paraguayan football striker, who currently plays for Blackburn Rovers.
| Contents |
| Career |
| Club |
| Olimpia Asunción |
| FC Bayern Munich |
| Blackburn Rovers |
| Club career stats |
| Club career statistics |
| National team |
| Paraguay U20 |
| Paraguay Senior |
| Off the pitch |
| References |
| External links |
Career
Club
Olimpia Asunción
He joined Olimpia Asunción youth division at the age of nine, where he became the top scorer during several seasons until the head coach of Olimpia's first team, Luis Cubilla, invited Santa Cruz to practice with the first team squad at the age of fifteen. His professional debut on the first team was on July 27, 1998 in the Paraguayan Super Clásico against Cerro Porteño, at the age of sixteen.[1] Santa Cruz's club performance led Olimpia Asunción to a Paraguayan championship in 1998 and 1999, and the winning of the Paraguayan Footballer of the Year award.
FC Bayern Munich
Because of his excellent performances with Olimpia and the Paraguay national football team, Santa Cruz signed for Bayern Munich in the second half of 1999. Santa Cruz has been unexceptional at Bayern Munich - although he scored five goals in his first season with the club, a series of injuries and heavy competition at forward for the German giants has limited his impact.
Blackburn Rovers
Santa Cruz agreed a four-year deal with Blackburn Rovers on 28 July 2007. Bayern Munich received £3.5 million from Blackburn for the player.[2] He scored his first goal for Rovers after just three touches of the ball when he came on as a substitute for the injured Benni McCarthy against Middlesbrough in the opening game of the 2007-08 Premier League season.[3] Santa Cruz celebrated his 26th birthday and his first full Rovers start when he scored the winner away to MyPa47 in the UEFA Cup.[4]
Club career stats
Club career statistics
:''(correct as of 2 September 2007)''
| Club | Season | League | Cup[5] | Europe | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | ||
| Olimpia Asuncion | 1998-99 | 9 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9 | 3 | - |
| Total | 9 | 3 | - | ||||||||||
| Bayern Munich | 1999-00 | 28 | 5 | - | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | 32 | 7 | - |
| 2000-01 | 19 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 19 | 5 | - | |
| 2001-02 | 22 | 5 | - | - | - | - | 10 | 3 | - | 32 | 8 | - | |
| 2002-03 | 14 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 14 | 5 | - | |
| 2003-04 | 29 | 5 | - | - | - | - | 8 | 1 | - | 37 | 6 | - | |
| 2004-05 | 4 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4 | - | - | |
| 2005-06 | 13 | 4 | - | - | - | - | 2 | 0 | - | 15 | 4 | - | |
| 2006-07 | 26 | 2 | - | 2 | 0 | - | 7 | 1 | - | 35 | 3 | - | |
| Total | 188 | 38 | - | ||||||||||
| Blackburn Rovers | 2007-08 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| Total | 5 | 3 | 0 | ||||||||||
National team
Paraguay U20
Santa Cruz made a name for himself at the 1999 U-20 FIFA World Youth Championship, where he scored three goals for a surprising Paraguay team. His performance there led to a call-up to the full Paraguay national team for the Copa América at the age of 17.
Paraguay Senior
Santa Cruz made his senior debut at age 17 for Paraguay at Copa América leading his national team in scoring with three goals. He also scored a total of seven goals in the 2002 and 2006 World Cup qualification rounds, and appeared in the 2002 World Cup, where he scored one goal while helping his team advance to the elimination rounds.
Santa Cruz was in doubt for the 2006 World Cup as he was recovering from a serious knee injury. However, he recovered in time for the start of the tournament and played all three group stage matches for Paraguay. Santa Cruz was not able to score a goal, but he did assist Nelson Cuevas and had a good game in the 2-0 victory over Trinidad & Tobago. Despite the win, Paraguay failed to qualify to the second round of the tournament. Santa Cruz scored a hat-trick against Colombia on 2007 Copa America in Venezuela in the 5-0 Paraguayan victory.
Off the pitch
★ In 2004 he teamed up with German rock band Sportfreunde Stiller to sing the words ''"Ich, Roque"'' in the song with the same title - a pun on the phrase ''I rock''. The song made it into the Top-40 in Austria and Germany.
★ In a 2006 World Cup edition of German magazine Kicker he was voted the sexiest man to be taking part in the tournament.[1]
★ He was also chosen by the German newspaper Die Welt as the sexiest footballer of the 2006 World Cup.[2]
★ He is on the cover of the German version of the PC, PS2 and Xbox 360 game Pro Evolution Soccer 6.[3]
References
1. Santa Cruz official site (Spanish)
2. Cruz seals Blackburn move, BBC Sport, 28 July 2007, accessed 12 August 2007.
3. Middlesbrough vs Blackburn, rovers.premiumtv.co.uk, 11 August 2007, accessed 12 August 2007.
4. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/6941960.stm|title=MyPa 0-1 Blackburn, BBC Sport, 16 August 2007 accessed 12 August 2007.
5. Includes FA Cup, League Cup and FA Community Shield.
External links
★ Roque Santa Cruz official site
★ Roque Santa Cruz official Spanish site
★ Santa Cruz makes Rovers move
★ Career stats for Roque Santa Cruz at kicker.de
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