Roque Santa Cruz

Manchester City striker Roque Santa Cruz will be out of action until the end of August, the club's manager Mark Hughes confirmed on Wednesday. When Hughes spent 17 million pounds to sign Santa Cruz from Blackburn during the close-season, he was already aware the Paraguay striker's City debut would be put on hold due to knee surgery. But Hughes has plenty of attacking options after also signing Emmanuel Adebayor and Carlos Tevez and he plans to let Santa Cruz recover at his own pace. "We knew Roque would have a period of rehabilitation when we signed him, but we have good options up front," ... Read Full Story

New signing Carlos Tevez watched from the sideline as Manchester City lost 2-0 to Orlando Pirates Saturday in the opening Vodacom Challenge tournament match. City manager Mark Hughes said was "too dangerous" to field Argentine Tevez and another close-season striking purchase Paraguayan Roque Santa Cruz in this northern city as they lacked match fitness. Former Manchester United striker Hughes, under pressure to break into the English Premiership "big four" after a close season spending spree that also netted England midfielder Gareth Barry, offered no excuses for the loss. "It was a good workout against a Pirates team that played very well. I was pleased ... Read Full Story

Manchester City striker Roque Santa Cruz insists the whole squad is determined to get back to winning ways as soon as possible. Read Full Story

BLACKBURN, England (AFP) - Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce has buried the hatchet with unsettled striker Roque Santa Cruz in time for Christmas. Paraguay international Santa Cruz admitted last week he would be keen to leave the struggling Premier League team if a "better or an ambitious club" came in for him during the January transfer window. Allardyce responded by calling the former Bayern Munich star in for showdown talks, which sparked reports he was ready to sell the forward to Manchester City. But Allardyce now claims he is still keen to keep Santa Cruz. "We’ve had the discussion and I just said the timing ... Read Full Story

Today, Blackburn Rovers have captured the younger brother of Paraguay international striker Roque Santa Cruz from Paraguayan club Cerro Porteno after impressing on a trial since the end of last season. Julio Santa Cruz, 18 will join Rovers on a three-year deal, subject to him being cleared by the international football authorities. Santa Cruz told the club’s website: “I’m happy to be here at Blackburn, it will be an amazing adventure for me.” But, when I saw this news flash a thought crossed my mind. While I have no knowledge of his abilities as a football player, as sites such as Wikipedia have no ... Read Full Story