Player Profile: Roque Santa Cruz

Born on August 16, 1981 in Asunción, Paraguay, Roque joined Olimpia 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 Roque to practice with the first team squad at the age of fifteen. With a figure and style like Raul Vicente Amarrilla, the previous Olimpia’s idol, his professional debut on the first team was in 1998, at the age of sixteen. Olimpia won the Paraguayan championship in 1998 and 1999, where Roque was awarded as the Paraguayan Footballer of the Year.

Because of his excellent performances with Olimpia and the Paraguay national football team, Roque signed for Bayern Munich in the second half of 1999, in what was known as the highest transfer fee of a player from a Paraguayan team. In Bayern he won the appreciation of the German fans, but injuries didn’t led he had the necessarily continuous presence in the team. Probably Roque is the only player in the Bundesliga who has his own song “Ich, Roque” interpreted by German rock band Sportfreunde Stiller.

Santa Cruz made a name for himself at the 1999 U-20 FIFA World Youth Championship, where he scored three goals. His performance there led to a call-up to the Paraguay national team for the Copa América at the age of 17, where he scored with three goals. During the World Cup qualification to the Korea/Japan ‘02 and Germany ‘06 he earned a place in the starting team, scoring several goals.

Although he is recovering from a knee injury that put him out of the fields for six months, his return two weeks ago gave the breath back to the Paraguayan fans who want to see him playing in the World Cup with Nelson Haedo Valdez, in a “German” forward line.