Roque Santa Cruz isstill going strong at the veteran age of 39 and he’s currently the captain of both club and country. Santa Cruz plays his club football for Olimpia in his native Paraguay. In addition to being the Olimpia skipper, the Ex-Bayern Munich hitman is also the Paraguay national team skipper. Roque Santa Cruz is a legend of the game in his country after hia achievements in the Sport in two decades. He has scored 32 goals in 112 games for the Paraguay national team for the duration of 22 years. Roque Santa Cruz made his debut for his country in April 1999. His first Paraguay match was a friendly against Mexico and it was shortly before his move to German Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich. Roque Santa Cruz didn’t have to wait for his first goal for Paraguay. He was on target for the first time in the colours of the Paraguay national team during the 3-2 loss to Uruguay in June 1999. Roque Santa Cruz was named the Paraguayan footballer of the year in 1999 by the national football association. He won the title as a teenager having represented his country in three different tournaments. Santa Cruz was at the 1999 South American Youth Championship, the 1999 World Youth Championship and the 1999 Copa America.
Roque Santa Cruz represented Paraguay at three FIFA World Cup tournaments. He was a key member of the Paraguay squad to the 2002 FIFA World Cup tournament in South Korea and Japan, to the 2006 FIFA World Cup tournament in Germany and the 2010 FIFA World Cup tournament in South Africa. The Olimpia player also represented his country at the four Copa America editions. He was in the squads for the 1999 Copa America edition, the 2007 Copa America edition, 2011 Copa America edition and the 2015 Copa America edition. Santa Cruz and Paraguay reached the 2011 Copa America final before they lost to Uruguay. Roque Santa Cruz is back in the national team after he had planned to call it quit with international football in 2016. He returned to the national team in 2019.