Roque Santa Cruz

[Freddy Adu]

Roque Santa Cruz
Personal information
Full name	Roque Luis Santa Cruz Cantero
Date of birth	August 16, 1981 (1981-08-16) (age 26)
Place of birth	Asunción, Paraguay
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)[1]
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Blackburn Rovers
Number	9
Youth clubs
1988–1998	Olimpia Asunción
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1998–1999 1999–2007 2007–	Olimpia Asunción Bayern Munich Blackburn Rovers	009 0(3)[2] 155 (31) 009 0(4)
National team2
1999–	Paraguay	049 (14)

[Freddy Adu]

Blackburn boss excited by McCarthy-Santa Cruz partnership

Blackburn boss Mark Hughes was full of praise for his central strike partnership of Roque Santa Cruz and Benni McCarthy, both of whom scored in the 4-2 home defeat of Reading.

"Their quicker, bigger and stronger than I ever was. Yeah, their not bad!

"They are good players. Some of their play today was excellent.

"Technically they are very proficient football players. They are comfortable on the ball, can link up play, be creative in the final third and bring other players into the game."

[Freddy Adu]

Blackburn's Santa Cruz admits knee concerns

Blackburn Rovers striker Roque Santa Cruz admits he has problems with his knees.

After victory over Reading, Santa Cruz said: "I have a problem with my knees but I didn't need an injection.

"It is bearable and I could have played 90 minutes if asked to."

[Freddy Adu]

Santa Cruz backs Blackburn for Premiership title

Blackburn Rovers can win the Premiership title this season, insists Roque Santa Cruz.

After their victory over Reading, the Paraguay ace declared: "Everything is possible in football if the determination is big enough in the team.

"We are willing to give it a try and will do everything we can to make it happen.

"I have read a little bit about Shearer and Sutton. Shearer, in particular, is a great player and I used to like him very much. It's great to be compared to that sort of player.

"But it is no good talking about being like them until we have won a cup. Fans remember the players who win trophies, not just who scores lots of goals.

"Everybody wants to win something this year, and the Premier League is the most important one."

[Amo-te Benfica]

What a class striker. McCarthy and Santa Cruz up fron that partnership is world class. I can see Blackburn doing a lot this season.

[Freddy Adu]

Redknapp won over by Blackburn duo McCarthy, Santa Cruz

Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp was impressed by Blackburn's strike-pair Benni McCarthy and Roque Santa Cruz after last night's Carling Cup defeat.

He said: "One is very clever with the ball and the other is a strong lad who is always looking to score. They gave us problems and we conceded two bad goals."

[Freddy Adu]

This player is on the roster for tommorow's match.
For more information view the match thread. -> Matchday 14 ~ Fulham vs Blackburn

[Freddy Adu]

Controversial Santa Cruz strike rescues Rovers


Written by: AFP

	Rolando Bianchi(L) of Manchester City vies with Bruno Berner of Blackburn during their Premier league football match against Manchester City in Manchester. The match ended in a 2-2 draw.

MANCHESTER, England (AFP) - Sven-Goran Eriksson admitted he has been left bemused by the latest interpretation of the offside rule after Roque Santa Cruz's controversial late equaliser sealed a 2-2 draw for Blackburn at Manchester City on Thursday.

Paraguayan striker Santa Cruz claimed his seventh goal in his last four games as Rovers denied City the chance to go fourth in the Premiership, but his 82nd minute header was shrouded in controversy with linesman Darren Cann initially flagging for an offside involving Rovers midfielder David Dunn.

Cann than changed his mind, leaving referee Howard Webb to award the goal for Blackburn, and City manager Eriksson admitted that the uncertainty surrounding whether players are active or inactive was affecting everybody in the game.

He said: "What is the offside rule? I can use the words of the referee after the game -- he said it is a grey area and I agree with him.

"Dunn jumped to try to head the ball from an offside position before Santa Cruz scored from an onside position. For me, Dunn was interfering with play and he affected the goalkeeper's position. I asked the referee to explain, but he said it was a grey area.

"There is no point discussing it now, though. Two points we had are now gone and that's it. Against Spurs recently, we had another decision go against us like that, but that is football and you have to accept it and overcome it.

"I'm just disappointed because we have conceded two goals at set pieces which were very similar. We could and should have defended them better."

City had claimed a 2-1 half-time lead after Darius Vassell's headed opener and a Ryan Nelsen own goal cancelled out Santa Cruz's first headed equaliser.

Blackburn manager Mark Hughes admitted that he was relieved at Cann's decision to admit he had made a mistake.

Hughes said: "The linesman has been honest enough to admit that he got the decision wrong when he put his flag up initially. He put the flag up very early and I expected the goal to be chalked out.

"The linesman had to be brave to go back on it. I think he initially flagged for David Dunn being offside, but that wasn't the case and he was big enough to admit that.

"He called Mr Webb over and he said he had made a mistake. I have questioned officials in the past, but on this occasion I thought he was strong enough to change his mind.

"I think it was a correct and valid decision to award the goal, but the rules are more grey than black-and-white these days."

Hughes has now urged his team to build on the point by making a surge up the table, starting with Sunday's clash with bottom club Derby.

He said: "This is a start for us. We have been on a bit of a bad run and have made life difficult ourselves, but hopefully this can kick-start our season

"We now have a run of games against teams in the bottom half of the table, so we have to take advantage and start picking up some victories."