Roque Santa Cruz

Roque Luis Santa Cruz Cantero (locally: [ˈroke ˈlwis santa ˈkɾus kanˈteɾo]; born 16 August 1981) is a Paraguayan footballer who plays as a striker for Primera División Paraguaya club Olimpia Asunción and the Paraguayan national team. Santa Cruz is the Paraguay national team's career leading scorer with 32 goals, and is the sixth national team player to reach 100 appearances.

Santa Cruz started his career with Olimpia Asunción, 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. Santa Cruz scored three goals in four appearances for Paraguay at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship before debuting for the Paraguayan 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 €5million, which was a record transfer fee in Paraguayan football,where he scored five goals in 28 league appearances in his first season. He faced a series of injuries and heavy competition from team mates Giovane Élber, Roy Makaay and Claudio Pizarro which limited his impact and restricted his appearances for the club.