Roque Santa Cruz

His goals came in the 24th and 40th minutes of the first half.

All of his three goals were scored against his international teammate Chilavert.

Bayern Munich's eyes looked at Santa Cruz for the first time after he scored his double past José Luís Chilavert.

The club was later eliminated from the competition at the semi-final stage by Palmeiras, who would go on to win the tournament.

In Olimpia first group stage match, against Cerro Porteño on 24 February, Santa Cruz scored a second-half double past Aldo Bobadilla in the 58th and 89th minutes as his side were defeated 4–3.

On 5 March, Santa Cruz played a full 90 minutes in his side's second group stage match, a 4–2 home victory against Palmeiras.

Santa Cruz again featured for Olimpia in their third group stage fixture, a 1–1 away draw against Palmeiras on 12 March.

In Olimpia's fourth group stage fixture, Santa Cruz featured in the entire match as his side drew 2–2 at home against Cerro Porteño on 17 March.

On 26 March, Santa Cruz played a full 90 minutes in Olimpia's 2–1 home defeat against Corinthians in their fifth Copa Libertadores group stage fixture.

During the first-leg of the quarter-final match on 27 October, Santa Cruz scored in the 65th minute of Olimpia's 4–3 away victory.

Olimpia had been 1–0 in front since the 31st minute of the match, before Corinthians would go on to score two goals in the second half.

Roque Luis Santa Cruz Cantero (born 16 August 1981) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Paraguayan Primera División club Club Libertad.

He is the record goal scorer and has earned over 100 caps for the Paraguay national team, thus he is regarded as one of the best players in the nation's history.

Santa Cruz has scored goals at a professional level in each of the last four decades.

Santa Cruz started his career with Olimpia, progressing through their youth system to the first-team squad where he made his debut at the age of 15 in 1997.

He finished his career with the club having scored 13 goals in 24 Primera División appearances where Olimpia claimed the 1997, 1998 and 1999 Primera División titles.

The club's first-team coach, Luis Cubilla, invited Santa Cruz to train with the team aged 15, and the player eventually made his first-team appearance in the 1997 Primera División Paraguaya at the age of 15, during the Torneo Clausura on 27 July when he entered the field in the 80th minute for Alfredo Mendoza in the Paraguayan derby against Cerro Porteño.

During the group stages of the 1998 Copa Mercosur, Santa Cruz scored his first goal of the competition in the 11th minute of Olimpia Asunción's 4–2 away victory against Argentine side Racing Club on 14 October 1998.

The club finished in second position of their group with ten points, and advanced to the quarter-finals to face José Luís Chilavert's Vélez Sársfield.

One week later, Santa Cruz scored a brace for Olimpia as they claimed a 2–1 home victory in the second leg on 4 November 1998.

During the 1998 Primera División Paraguaya season, Santa Cruz scored three goals in nine appearances as Olimpia were crowned champions of the league.

The club had also reached the knock-out stages of the 1998 Copa Libertadores, where they were eliminated by Argentina's Colón.

Santa Cruz scored three goals in four appearances for Paraguay at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship before debuting for the Paraguay national team at the 1999 Copa América, where he scored three goals in four appearances.

He immediately joined Bundesliga club Bayern Munich in August 1999 for a fee of €5 million, which was the highest transfer fee in Paraguayan football until 2019.

where he scored five goals in 28 league appearances in his first season.

He faced a series of injuries and heavy competition from teammates Giovane Élber, Roy Makaay and Claudio Pizarro which limited his impact and restricted his appearances for the club.

Santa Cruz was part of a successful team for Bayern, winning numerous Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and DFB-Ligapokal titles.

During the 1999 Primera División Paraguaya season, Santa Cruz scored 10 goals in 14 appearances as Olimpia claimed the league title.

Santa Cruz participated at the 1999 Copa Libertadores, where Olimpia were drawn in Group 3 with Cerro Porteño, eventual champions Palmeiras and Corinthians.

On 16 May 1999, a Bayern Munich delegation composed of Franz Beckenbauer, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Uli Hoeneß, Søren Lerby and Giovanni Branchinni entered surprisingly into the Estadio General Pablo Rojas to see a game between 12 de Octubre and Olimpia Asunción, in which Santa Cruz scored and was Man of the Match, making Bayern Munich hurry with the transfer process.

The following day during a reunion with Olimpia's president, Osvaldo Dominguez Dibb, who wanted the sale to reach US$10 million, said "Pay the sum, or Roque stays at Olimpia", stamping his hand on his desk table.

To unblock the situation, Santa Cruz' father, Aproniano, renounced a 30% of the transfer that corresponded him and Santa Cruz joined Bayern Munich without obstacles.

Santa Cruz had scored two goals in five Copa Libertadores appearances and would not take part in his club's last group stage fixture, a 4–0 away defeat against Corinthians on 9 April, due to his participation for Paraguay U20 at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship, which was disputed at the same time.

He also won the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League and the 2001 Intercontinental Cup.

He represented Paraguay at the 2002, 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cup tournaments, and at the 1999, 2007, 2011 (where Paraguay finished runners-up) and 2015 Copa América tournaments.

He left Bayern Munich in July 2007 to join Blackburn Rovers for a transfer fee of €5 million, where he scored 19 goals in the 2007–08 Premier League season.

In June 2009, he joined Manchester City for a fee of £17.5 million on a four-year deal.

Since his transfer, he was loaned out to Blackburn and Real Betis.

He retired from international football in 2016, but reversed his decision in May 2019.

Santa Cruz joined Primera División Paraguaya club Olimpia Asunción's youth academy at the age of nine, where he became the top scorer during several seasons.