José Cardozo
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| José Cardozo | ||
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | José Saturnino Cardozo Otazú | |
| Date of birth | March 19, 1971 | |
| Place of birth | Nueva Italia, Paraguay | |
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | |
| Playing position | Striker | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Retired | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1988-1990 1990-1992 1992-1993 1994-1995 1995-2005 2005-2006 |
River Plate FC St. Gallen Universidad Católica Olimpia Toluca San Lorenzo Total |
26 (10) 37 (15) 35 (11) 41 (27) 332 (249) 23 (5) 494 (317) |
| National team2 | ||
| 1991-2006 | Paraguay | 83 (25) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
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| Olympic medal record | |||
Competitor for  Paraguay |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Men's Football | |||
| Silver | 2004 Athens | Team Competition | |
José Saturnino Cardozo Otazú (born March 19, 1971 in Nueva Italia, Paraguay) is a Paraguayan football striker.
Contents |
[edit] Club career
Cardozo began his professional career in 1988, making his debut for River Plate of Paraguay. After four years in River, he moved to Swiss club FC St. Gallen, where he played from 1990 to 1992. He returned to South America in 1993, joining Universidad Católica de Chile helping the team reach the 1993 Copa Libertadores de América final. The following year he played for Club Olimpia of Paraguay, from which he moved to Club Toluca of Mexico.
Cardozo made his debut for Toluca in the 1995 season, but only appeared in three games, scoring no goals. However, in the subsequent winter season, he scored 7 goals in 13 games. In his eight years with the team, he has scored a record 249 goals for the club, including 14 in the 2004 Apertura.
Due to his work at Toluca, Cardozo was elected as the Paraguayan Footballer of the Year in the years 2000, 2002 and 2003; and the South American Footballer of the Year in 2002. Despite the fact that he was fiercely opposed to the move, Cardozo was transferred to Argentine team San Lorenzo de Almagro in June, 2005 and finished the season with only 4 goals due to injuries that kept him away from playing several games. However, many critics lambasted Cardozo for refusing to play through the pain. It should be noted that while playing for Toluca, Cardozo fought through the 1997 campaign despite hamstring problems and then played through much of the 2001 season despite suffering a broken wrist in the season opener.Cardozo is the all-time leading scorer for Club Toluca. He is a legend and is known as "El Diablo Mayor" which means the Best Devil coming from the terms Diablos Rojos (Red Devils).
In July of 2006, Cardozo attempted to return to the club he is a fan from, Club Olimpia to finish his career but was unable to play for the club because the signing deadline for players in the Paraguayan league had expired. Due to that he decided to retire from football. He scored 342 goals total in his career.
Cardozo has been rumored to join MLS side Chivas USA this winter. He was in contact with Chivas USA on February 5, 2008, to take a physical and trained with the team on February 6, 2008. He was not signed due to lack of fitness.
[edit] Paraguay national team
Cardozo is the all-time leading scorer for the Paraguayan national team with 25 goals[1]. He played for his country at the 1998 and 2002 World Cups and was named in the original 2006 World Cup squad, but he was injured during training sessions and replaced by Dante López. Cardozo was also an over-age player at the 2004 Summer Olympics, when Paraguay finished second.
[edit] Coaching career
In November of 2006, Club Olimpia's coach Oscar Paulin was fired due to poor performances by the team and Cardozo was named as the interim coach of the Paraguayan club, this being his first experience as a coach. [1]
- 2006 - 2007 : Club Olimpia - Paraguay
[edit] Titles
- U-23 South American Champion: 1992 (with Paraguay)
- Copa Libertadores de América finalist: 1993 (with Universidad Catolica), 2001 (with Cruz Azul)
- Paraguayan League: 1993 (with Olimpia)
- Mexican Champion: Verano 1998, Verano 1999, Verano 2000, Apertura 2002 (with Toluca)
- CONCACAF Champions' Cup: 2003 (with Toluca)
- Silver medal at the Olympics: 2004 (with Paraguay)
[edit] Awards
- Mexican League Topscorer: 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003
- FIFA World Topscorer of the Year: 2003 (with 58 goals)
- Paraguayan Footballer of the Year: 2000, 2002, 2003
- South American Footballer of the Year: 2002
- All-time scorer for the Paraguayan national team and for Club Toluca
| Preceded by Juan Román Riquelme |
South American Footballer of the Year 2002 |
Succeeded by Carlos Tévez |
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- International statistics at rsssf
- Profile at National Football Teams
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