Óscar Cardozo
Personal information
Full name	Óscar René Cardozo
Date of birth	May 20, 1983 (1983-05-20) (age 26)
Place of birth	Juan Eulogio Estigarribia, Paraguay
Height	1.94 m (6 ft 4+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Benfica
Number	7
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2003–2004 2005–2006 2006–2007 2007–	3 de Febrero Club Nacional Newell's Old Boys Benfica	002 0(5) 063 (31) 032 (20) 070 (64)
National team2
2007–	Paraguay	028 0(4)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13:30, 27 March 2009 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 00:50, 15 October 2009 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Óscar René Cardozo (born 20 May 1983) is a Paraguayan footballer who currently plays as a striker for Sport Lisboa e Benfica in the Portuguese Liga.

[edit] Career

[edit] Early career

Cardozo played for Club 24 de Junio and 3 de Febrero of Ciudad del Este in Paraguay before moving to Club Nacional in 2005, where he quickly established himself as the team's top scorer.

[edit] Newell's Old Boys

Cardozo arrived at Newell's Old Boys in the second half of the 2006–07 season for a transfer fee of $1.2 million after scoring 17 goals for Nacional in the Primera División de Paraguay and the Apertura and Clausura tournament. At Newell's, he joined fellow Paraguayans Diego Gavilán, Santiago Salcedo, and Justo Villar and became an immediate success, netting 11 goals in 16 games in the Apertura and Clausura 2006 tournament. As a result of his good performances, Cardozo was voted as the 2006 winner of the Paraguayan Footballer of the Year award.

The Paraguayan international started the 2007 season brilliantly: he notched up 10 goals for Newell's and was crucial in the Argentine team's escaping from the cellar of the Apertura and Clausura tournament. His recent success earned him a spot in the Paraguay national team that took part in the 2007 Copa America.

[edit] Benfica

[edit] 2007–08 season

On 21 June 2007, Cardozo officially signed for Portuguese giants Benfica for an approximate amount of €11.1 million for 100% of his playing rights.^[1] This made Cardozo the second most expensive signing in the club's history, only surpassed by the former team star and captain Simão (for whom Benfica paid €13 million for in 2001).

Cardozo has been influential for Benfica in the Portuguese Liga, scoring two goals against Nacional in Funchal, Madeira, scoring the second from 20 meters away to put the ball past Diego Benaglio in glorious fashion. His exploits in the Liga led manager José Antonio Camacho to start him in the UEFA Champion's League where, in six games, he scored three goals. His first goal came against Scottish club Celtic in Lisbon, a game where he alone hit the bar twice but, with less than seven minutes to go, a play created by Freddy Adu which then reached Ángel Di María was passed overhead to Cardozo, who then rattled Artur Boruc's goal and ended up giving Benfica the lead. He also won the Man of the Match award that night. His goal scoring did not stop there: with Benfica playing Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine, he managed two goals to give Benfica the win, again winning Man of the Match honours.

On 19 January 2008, Cardozo scored his first Portuguese Cup goal against Feirense in dramatic fashion. After scoring the goal, he then celebrated by removing his jersey and offering it to a fan; He was then given a yellow card for his action.

Cardozo is a free-kick specialist and often takes free-kicks for Benfica. His first free-kick goal for the club came against Vitória de Guimarães in Guimarães: Cardozo, or Tacuara as he is known by Benfica fans, scored a goal from 35 meters out, making headlines not only in Portugal but all across Europe for his beautiful strike.^{[citation needed]}

On 22 February 2008, he scored a goal against Nuremberg in the 89th minute in the UEFA Cup, a crucial goal for Benfica to advance to the Round of 16.

On 3 March 2008, in the Lisbon Derby, Cardozo scored the equalizing goal to give Benfica a 1–1 draw against their bitter rivals Sporting Clube de Portugal. The goal was off a Rui Costa corner in which Cardozo headed past young goalkeeper Rui Patrício to boast Benfica's chance at a direct qualification for the UEFA Champions League. On 6 April 2008, in a match against Boavista, Cardozo completed a promise he made to score 20 goals in all competition for Benfica.^[2]

[edit] 2008–09 season

On 30 August 2008, during the classic Benfica vs. FC Porto fixture, Cardozo scored the equalizing goal to give Benfica a 1–1 draw against another one of their biggest rivals. He saw limited playing time in the first half of the season, but came out strong during the latter stages of the season.

[edit] 2009–10 season

Cardozo had a positive 2009–10 pre-season, scoring eight goals in ten games. On 31 August 2009, he scored a hat trick, helping Benfica to a fantastic 8–1 win over Vitória de Setúbal.^[3][4] During a Europa League Group Stage match against Everton on 22 October 2009, the 'Tacuara' scored two goals in two minutes, helping Benfica to a 5–0 thrashing at the Estádio da Luz.^[5][6][7] Cardozo scored another hat trick against Nacional in which Benfica won 6–1. Cardozo managed to get yet another hat trick on 6 December when Benfica hammered Académica de Coimbra 4–0. He currently has a league-leading 14 domestic goals on the season, five goals more than the second highest scorer, Edgar Silva of CD Nacional, with 9.

[edit] Career statistics

As of 7 december 2009

[edit] Honours and awards

[edit] Benfica

• League Cup: 2008–09

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Oscar Cardozo PortuGOAL profile
• Video with some of the goals scored by Oscar Cardozo in Newell's Old Boys

Óscar Cardozo - Navigation boxes v • d • e Paraguay squad – 2007 Copa América 1 Villar • 2 Verón • 3 Morel Rodríguez • 4 Manzur • 5 Cáceres • 6 Bonet • 7 Cabañas • 8 Barreto • 9 Santa Cruz • 10 dos Santos • 11 Torres • 12 Zayas • 13 Salcedo • 14 da Silva • 15 González • 16 Riveros • 17 López • 18 Cardozo • 19 Santana • 20 Vera • 21 Cuevas • 22 Bobadilla • Coach: Martino v • d • e Paraguayan Footballer of the Year 1997: Gamarra | 1998: Gamarra | 1999: Santa Cruz | 2000: J. Cardozo | 2001: Acuña | 2002: J. Cardozo | 2003: J. Cardozo | 2004: Villar | 2005: Dos Santos | 2006: O. Cardozo | 2007: Cabañas | 2008: Morel Rodríguez |