Paraguay’s Roque Santa Cruz talks about his time in Europe

During the initial profesional playing career of Roque Santa Cruz, it was with the Paraguayan club Olimpia Asuncion that he kicked off the baby steps of what would eventually be a very fruitful and extended career in the soccer field.

At the time of writing this, Santa Cruz is 37 years old and he recently penned a contract extension that would see him remain with Olimpia Asuncion at least until 2019. Even though it’s very likely that the veteran player will be spending the final few years of his career with Olimpia, the vast majority of his time spent was throughout various clubs in Europe and he has recently revealed how it was like to perform with so many top teams in the world and what made him make a return to Paraguay and to Olimpia Asuncion.

“I had a very happy childhood, surrounded by family, the memories I have of when I was a child are very nice, I was born in Asunción (08/16/1981) but I grew up in Luque, until the day I went to Europe”

 

“Shortly after the Copa América my transfer to Bayern Munich (for US $ 7 million) was finalized, where I spent eight years, in one of the best leagues in the world and in one of the best clubs in the world. I could not believe it. It was not easy, going from living with my family to being alone, having to learn the language, customs, another culture, but I adapted quickly” Santa Cruz said.

 

Santa Cruz went on to spend around 8 years with Bayern Munich where he earned the German league title 5 times and 1 UEFA Champions League, just to mention a few of the more recognized pieces of silverware, it was his most successful period of time with any club.

 

Manchester City, Blackburn Rovers, Betis and Malaga are all of the European clubs that Santa Cruz performed with before eventually deciding to make a return to the Paraguayan side Olimpia Asuncion where his current contract is penned to expire on 2019.