Roque Santa Cruz

Roque Luis Santa Cruz Cantero (born 16 August, 1981 in Asunción) is a Paraguayan Association football striker, who plays for Blackburn Rovers F.C..

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. 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 F.C. on 28 July 2007. Blackburn agreed to pay FC Bayern Munich £3.5 million for the player. 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 F.C. in the opening game of the 2007–08 in English football Premier League season. Santa Cruz celebrated his 26th birthday and his first full Rovers start when he scored the winner away to MyPa in the UEFA Cup.
Roque Santa Cruz scored his first hat-trick for Blackburn in a 5–3 loss to Wigan Athletic F.C. on December 15 2007, 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 F.C. in their 4–3 away loss to Newcastle United F.C.. 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.

Club career statistics

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 football 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 Football World Cup 2002, where he scored one goal while helping his team advance to the elimination rounds.

Santa Cruz was in doubt for the 2006 FIFA 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 national football team. Despite the win, Paraguay failed to qualify to the second round of the tournament. Santa Cruz scored a hat trick against Colombia national football team 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

Awards

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 December 17, 2003), and one daughter, Fiorella (born November 11, 2005).
- In 2004 he teamed up with German Rock and roll 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 (sports magazine) he was voted the sexiest man to be taking part in the tournament.
- He was also chosen by the German newspaper Die Welt as the sexiest footballer of the 2006 World Cup.
- He is on the cover of the German version of the PC, PS2 and Xbox 360 game Pro Evolution Soccer 6.
- Roque has a younger brother, Julio, who also plays for the Blackburn Rovers reserves.