Roque Santa Cruz
- This is a Spanish name; the first family name is Santa Cruz and the second is Cantero.
| Roque Santa Cruz | ||
 |
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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 | 1.87 m (6 ft 11⁄2 in)[1] | |
| Playing position | Striker | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Blackburn Rovers | |
| Number | 9 | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| 1988–1998 | Olimpia Asunción | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1998–1999 1999–2007 2007– |
Olimpia Asunción Bayern Munich Blackburn Rovers |
23 (13)[2][3] 155 (31) 46 (21) |
| National team2 | ||
| 1999– | Paraguay | 61 (20)[4] |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Roque Luis Santa Cruz Cantero (born 16 August 1981 in Asunción) is a Paraguianan football striker, who plays for Blackburn Rovers.
Contents |
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 27 July 1998 in the Paraguayan Super Clásico against Cerro Porteño, at the age of sixteen.[5] 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
Santa Cruz showed his excellence in Paraguay with Olimpia and the Paraguay national football team, so then got noticed by Bayern which they eventually signed him in the second half of '99. Santa Cruz was unexceptional at Bayern Munich — although he scored five goals in his first season with the club, a series of injuries and heavy competition between forwards for the German giants limited his impact.
Nonetheless, he was part of the latest successes for Bayern, winning the German league and cup double, the UEFA Champions League and the European - South American Cup.
Blackburn Rovers
Santa Cruz agreed a four-year deal with Blackburn Rovers on 28 July 2007. Blackburn agreed to pay Bayern Munich £3.5 million for the player.[6] 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.[7] Santa Cruz celebrated his 26th birthday and his first full Rovers start when he scored the winner away to MyPa in the UEFA Cup.[8] Roque Santa Cruz scored his first hat-trick for Blackburn in a 5–3 loss to Wigan Athletic on 15 December 2007,[9] becoming the first player in over ten years in English football to score a hat-trick for the losing side, since Dwight Yorke's hat-trick on 30 September 1996 for Aston Villa in their 4–3 away loss to Newcastle United.[10] On 12 January 2008, he was named Premier League "Player of the Month" for December 2007.
Following a successful 2007–08 campaign, there was much transfer speculation surrounding Santa Cruz at the start of the 2008–09 season. However, Santa Cruz signed a four-year contract with Blackburn Rovers in August to end the speculation.[11]
Club career statistics
- (correct as of 26 October 2008)[12]
| Club | Season | League | Cup[13] | South America Europe |
Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | ||
| Olimpia Asunción | 1998–99 | 23 | 13 | - | - | - | - | 13 | 5 | ? | 36 | 18 | ? |
| Total | 23 | 13 | 13 | 5 | 36 | 18 | ? | ||||||
| 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 | 155 | 31 | - | 6 | 2 | - | 27 | 5 | - | 188 | 38 | ? | |
| Blackburn Rovers | 2007–08 | 37 | 19 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 23 | 8 |
| 2008–09 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 1 | |
| Total | 45 | 21 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 53 | 26 | 9 | |
| Career total | 223 | 65 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 43 | 11 | 0 | 277 | 82 | 9 | |
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 in a 5–0 Paraguayan victory during the Copa América 2007 in Venezuela. Currently, he is one of Paraguay's top scorer (three goals) in the 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.
Honours
Titles
| Season | Team | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 |  Olimpia |
Paraguayan 1st division |
| 1999 | Olimpia |
Paraguayan 1st division |
| 1999–2000 |  Bayern Munich |
German 1st division |
| 2000 | Bayern Munich |
German Cup |
| 2001 | Bayern Munich |
UEFA Champions League |
| 2000–01 | Bayern Munich |
German 1st division |
| 2001 | Bayern Munich |
Intercontinental Cup |
| 2002–03 | Bayern Munich |
German 1st division |
| 2003 | Bayern Munich |
German Cup |
| 2004–05 | Bayern Munich |
German 1st division |
| 2005 | Bayern Munich |
German Cup |
| 2005–06 | Bayern Munich |
German 1st division |
| 2006 | Bayern Munich |
German Cup |
Awards
| Season | Team | Award |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Olimpia |
Paraguayan Footballer of the Year |
| 2007 |  Blackburn Rovers |
Premier League player of the month (December) |
Off the pitch
- He married Giselle Tavarelli, the sister of his former national team and Olimpia teammate Ricardo Tavarelli in 2004. He has one son, Tobias (born 17 December 2003), and one daughter, Fiorella (born 11 November 2005).
- 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.[14]
- He was also chosen by the German newspaper Die Welt as the sexiest footballer of the 2006 World Cup.[15]
- He is on the cover of the German version of the PC, PS2 and Xbox 360 game Pro Evolution Soccer 6.[16]
- Roque has a younger brother, Julio, who also plays for the Blackburn Rovers reserves.[17]
References
- ↑ "Blackburn Rovers profile". Blackburn Rovers (2008-07-10). Retrieved on 2008-07-10.
- ↑ "Roque Santa Cruz official site statistics". Retrieved on 2007-08-20.
- ↑ Statistics at national-football-teams.com
- ↑ "Paraguay - Record International Players". Retrieved on 2007-12-30.
- ↑ "Santa Cruz official site" (in Spanish). Retrieved on 30 December 2007.
- ↑ "Santa Cruz seals Blackburn move". BBC Sport (28 July 2007). Retrieved on 12 August 2007.
- ↑ "Middlesbrough vs Blackburn". Blackburn Rovers Official Website (11 August 2007). Retrieved on 12 August 2007.
- ↑ "MyPa 0–1 Blackburn". BBC Sport (16 August 2007). Retrieved on 16 August 2007.
- ↑ "5–3 Blackburn vs Wigan". Espn Soccernet, (15 December 2007). Retrieved on 15 December 2007.
- ↑ "Dwight Yorke Biography". Perfect People. Retrieved on 17 December 2007.
- ↑ "Roque signs new four year contract" (22 August 2008). Retrieved on 21 November 2008.
- ↑ "History". Soccernet. Retrieved on 28 March 2008.
- ↑ Includes FA Cup, League Cup and FA Community Shield.
- ↑ "You'll never be great". Retrieved on 2 December 2007.
- ↑ "Santa Cruz, el más fachero" (in Spanish). Retrieved on 2 December 2007.
- ↑ "Pro Evolution Soccer 6" (in German). Retrieved on 2 December 2007.
- ↑ "Santa Cruz Jr signs for Blackburn". BBC Sport News. Retrieved on 21 November 2008.
External links
- International statistics at rsssf
- Profile at National Football Teams
- Roque Santa Cruz career stats at Soccerbase
- Roque Santa Cruz official site
- Roque Santa Cruz official Spanish site
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