Roque Luis Santa Cruz Cantero better known as Roque Santa Cruz is a Paraguayan footballer who currently plays as a striker for Primera Division club Olimpia Asuncion. He played the majority of his career with the German club Bayern Munich.
Roque Santa Cruz was born on 16 August 1981 in Asuncion, Paraguay. This efficient footballer holds a Paraguayan nationality. Born in the mid of August, his star sign is Leo.
He is the son of Celina Cantero and Aproniano Santa Cruz. His father works as a sports agent. His younger brother Julio plays for Asuncion-based club Nacional and the brother Diego is a former professional footballer. He had another brother Oscar who died in 2005.
Grew up as a passion for football, Cruz started his youth career at the age of nine and played with Paraguayan club Olimpia Asuncion. He started his senior career with Olimpia in 1997 season where he scored 13 goals in 24 apps. He then moved to German club Bayern Munich in 1999 where he played seven seasons with the team and scored 31 goals in 155 appearances.
From 2005 to 2006, Santa Cruz played for Bayern Munich II, where he only made six appearances. He agreed to a four-year deal with English club Blackburn on 28 July 2007. The club agreed to pay him £3.5 million and was presented with the number nine t-shirt.
Santa Cruz's ability and strength transformed him to a great footballer and was signed to Manchester City for £17.5 million (pound sterling) on a four-year deal. He was loaned to Blackburn Rovers for 2011 season but only made 9 appearances for the team. He was then again loaned to Spanish club Real Betis for the remaining season where he managed seven goals in 33 appearances.
Later in 2015, Santa Cruz returned to the former club Malaga after agreeing to a one-year loan deal. He made a second stint with Olimpia Asuncion on 8 June 2016.
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Santa Cruz represented Paraguay at 2002, 2006, and 2010 FIFA World Cup tournaments, and at 2007, 2011, and 2015 Copa America tournaments. He played alongside other star players like Antony Silva, Lucas Barrios, Richard Ortiz and helped Paraguay to take into the semifinals of the 2015 Copa America.
Santa Cruz married his girlfriend Giselle Tavarelli on June 14, 2003, after dating for five long years. The ceremony was held in Vila Olympia and had the attendance of 500 guests. Giselle is the sister of his teammate Ricardo Tavarelli and knew each other through him in 1998.
They have two sons Tobias (born on 17 December 2003), Benjamin (born 2010) and two daughters, Fiorella (born 11 November 2005), and Alaia (born in July 2014).
Santa Cruz is quite connected with his family and children. He practices Roman Catholic. Besides his career, he has a hobby of playing golf. He is close friends with the former Bayern Munich star Owen Hargreaves. Santa Cruz is the philanthropist and believes in the charities and social work. He associated with several charitable institutions in Paraguay.
Santa Cruz has reached the age of 36 now. He has a good height of 6 ft 3 inch, which is around 1.91m. He has a billed weight of 83 kg.
This Paraguayan footballer Santa Cruz has made a huge impact in the world of football. He has taste the experience domestic league as well as the European top leagues His current transfer fee is known to be around $580 thousand US dollar and his highest recorded fee was $12.93 million when he transferred to Blackburn Rovers. As per the reports, his net worth might be around or more than $10 million.
As per the reports, his net worth might be around or more than $10 million. His salary was reported to be around $6 million in 2012. He is also one of the highest paid Liga MX player with salary around $2 million a year. He has made collections of several cars on his list. Currently, he drives Mercedes Benz SUV and Volkswagen.
