Óscar Cardozo

Óscar Rene Cardozo

Personal information
Full name	Óscar René Cardozo Marín
Date of birth	20 May 1983 (1983-05-20) (age 28)
Place of birth	Juan Eulogio Estigarribia, Paraguay
Height	1.92 m (6 ft 3 1⁄2 in)[1]
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Benfica
Number	7
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2003–2004	3 de Febrero	34	(20)
2005–2006	Nacional Asunción	34	(20)
2006–2007	Newell's Old Boys	33	(21)
2007–	Benfica	113	(74)
National team‡
2007–	Paraguay	40	(8)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 October 2011. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 1 April 2011

Óscar René Cardozo Tacuara (born 20 May 1983) is a Paraguayan footballer who currently plays as a striker for Portuguese club S.L. Benfica. He is a prolific goalscorer known for his powerful left-foot finishes and free-kick taking.

Career

Early career

Cardozo played for Club 24 de Junio and 3 de Febrero of Ciudad del Este in Paraguay. On 10 August 2003, Cardozo scored a brace against Nacional. Again, on 7 May 2004, he scored another brace, this time against san Lorenzo. For 3 de Febrero, he scored 20 goals in the Paraguayan Second Division.

He then moved to Club Nacional in 2005, where he quickly established himself as the team's top scorer. In one season, he scored 29 goals, including six braces and one hat-trick.

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.

Benfica

2007–08 season

On 21 June 2007, Cardozo officially signed for Portuguese giants S.L. Benfica, after being bought for an approximate amount of €9.2 million for 80% of his playing rights.^[2][3] 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 €12 million in 2001).

Cardozo has been influential for Benfica in the Portuguese Liga, scoring two goals against Clube Desportivo 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 Clube Desportivo 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 FC 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 rivals Sporting Clube de Portugal. The goal was off a Rui Costa corner in which Cardozo headed past young goalkeeper Rui Patrício to boost 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.^[4]

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.

On 21 March 2009, he won his first title after Benfica beat their rivals Sporting in the Portuguese League Cup final.

In the last 10 games of the season, he scored eight goals. He ended the season as the second-highest goalscorer in Portugal, with 17 goals, losing only to Liédson of Sporting.

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.^[5][6]

During a Europa League Group Stage match against Everton on 22 October 2009, Tacuara scored two goals in two minutes, helping Benfica to a 5–0 thrashing at the Estádio da Luz.^[7][8][9] Cardozo scored another hat trick against Clube Desportivo 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 missed a decisive penalty kick against Vitória de Setúbal on 6 February 2010 in the 90th minute, where the game ended in a 1–1 draw. In the next game, Cardozo scored a wonderful goal, helping his team reach the League Cup final after Benfica won 4–1 against Sporting CP.

Cardozo scored Benfica's single winning goal against Os Belenenses, which took his goal total to 17 goals in the league and 23 overall, which was a personal record for him at Benfica, surpassing the 22 goals he scored in his first season. Cardozo scored his 18th league goal and 26 overall against FC Paços de Ferreira in a 3–1 win, also assisting the first goal. Cardozo again scored the game winning goal against Nacional, taking his tally to 19. He also scored a goal in the final of the Portuguese League Cup in which Benfica won 3–0 over FC Porto, taking his tally to 28 overall in the season. Cardozo took his tally to 30 goals overall by scoring two penalties against Liverpool in the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League quarter-finals first leg in which Benfica won 2–1.^[10] On 8 April 2010, he also scored in the return leg at Anfield with a free kick, but his side were eliminated after a 4–1 loss.^[11]

Cardozo scored his 21st goal in the league against Sporting, in a game where Benfica eventually won 2–0. On 24 April 2010, Cardozo scored another hat-trick against Sporting Clube Olhanense in a 5–0 victory, and on 9 May, Cardozo scored two goals against Rio Ave FC, helping Benfica winning the League.

He finished this season with 38 goals overall and 26 goals in the League, beating Radamel Falcao of FC Porto and thus winning the Golden Boot.

His impressive form has attracted interest from a number of clubs including FC Barcelona, and reports say Benfica may be willing to sell at £11 million.

International career

On 5 June 2007, Cardozo made his senior international debut at the age of 24 in friendly against Mexico. He scored the game's only goal.

He was part of the team that reached the quarter-finals in the 2007 Copa América and scored a goal against the United States.

He scored two goals in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification. On 29 June 2010, Cardozo scored the winning penalty against Japan in a 5–3 penalty shoot-out victory at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, as Paraguay qualified for the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time.^[12] In the quarter-finals, however, Cardozo missed a penalty kick in the 59th minute in a 0–0 game against Spain, where the Paraguayans eventually lost 1–0 on an 85th minute goal from David Villa.^[13]

International goals

Óscar Cardozo: International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	5 June 2007	Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico	Mexico	0 – 1	0–1	Friendly
2	28 June 2007	Estadio Agustín Tovar, Barinas, Venezuela	United States	1 – 2	1–3	2007 Copa América
3	15 October 2008	Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, Paraguay	Peru	1 – 0	1–0	World Cup 2010 Qualifying
4	10 October 2009	Polideportivo Cachamay, Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela	Venezuela	0 – 2	1–2	World Cup 2010 Qualifying
5	29 March 2011	LP Field, Nashville, United States	United States	0 – 1	0–1	Friendly
6	2 September 2011	Estadio Rommel Fernández, Panama City, Panama	Panama	0 – 1	0–2	Friendly
7	6 September 2011	Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano, San Pedro Sula, Honduras	Honduras	0 – 2	0–3	Friendly
8	6 September 2011	Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano, San Pedro Sula, Honduras	Honduras	0 – 3	0–3	Friendly

Trivia

Cardozo is called "Tacuara" which in Guarani, a Paraguayan Indian language, means "big cane." In Benfica, some fans have created a chant for the support that was often sung at the stadium. The chants were: Tenham cuidado/ Ele é perigoso/ Ele é o Óscar Tacuara Cardozo (Be Careful/ He is dangerous/ He is the Óscar Tacuara Cardozo) Nosso avançado/ Habilidoso/ Faz o golo, Óscar Cardozo (Our striker/ Skilful/ Score the Goal, Óscar Cardozo) ^[14]

Career statistics

Club	Season	League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
3 de Febrero	2003	*	*	*	*	-	-	0	0	*	*
	2004	*	*	*	*	-	-	0	0	*	*
Total		*	20	*	*	-	-	0	0	*	20
Club Nacional	2004	14	3	*	*	-	-	0	0	14	3
	2005	29	9	*	*	-	-	0	0	29	9
	2006	20	10	*	*	-	-	0	0	20	17
Total		63	29	*	*	-	-	0	0	63	29
Newell's Old Boys	2006–07	33	21	*	*	-	-	*	*	33	21
Total		33	21	*	*	-	-	*	*	33	21
Benfica	2007–08	29	13	5	5	0	0	11	4	45	22
	2008–09	26	17	2	0	4	0	3	0	35	17
	2009–10	29	26	0	0	5	2	13	10	47	38
	2010–11	22	12	5	5	2	1	12	5	42*	23
	2011–12	7	6	0	0	0	0	5	2	11*	7
Total		113	74	12	10	11	3	45	21	180	108
Career total		214	135	12	10	11	3	45	21	276	180

• Last updated on 14/09/2011

* Includes 1 match in the Portuguese Supercup

Honours and awards

3 de Febrero

• Paraguayan Segunda División: 2004

Benfica

• Portuguese League: 2009–10
• Portuguese League Cup: 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11

Individual

• Paraguayan Footballer of the Year: 2006, 2009
• Portuguese Liga Top Scorer: 2009–10
• UEFA Europa League top scorer: 2009–10
• Portuguese League Player of the Month: May 2009

References

1. ^ Óscar Cardozo FIFA World Cup profile Retrieved 2010-06-13
2. ^ "Sport Lisboa e Benfica – Futebol SAD announces acquiring Oscar Cardozo." (in Portuguese). SL Benfica (Published by Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM)). 21 June 2007. http://web3.cmvm.pt/english/sdi2004/emitentes/docs/FR13988.pdf. Retrieved 4 October 2010. 
3. ^ Paraguayan striker Cardozo joins Benfica
4. ^ (Spanish) Oscar "Tacuara" Cardozo cumplió con su promesa de llegar a los veinte goles
5. ^ Benfica aplica goleada das antigas (8–1) ao V. Setúbal (In Portguese)
6. ^ Futebol: Liga (3.ª jornada) – Benfica dá 8–1 ao Setúbal e sobe a segundo (In Portuguese)
7. ^ Benfica 5–0 Everton
8. ^ Europa League: Everton humbled, Fulham denied
9. ^ Five-star Benfica batter Everton
10. ^ Ashenden, Mark (2010-04-01). "Benfica 2–1 Liverpool". BBC Sport (BBC). http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/8596834.stm. Retrieved 2010-04-09. 
11. ^ Bevan, Chris (2010-04-08). "Liverpool 4–1 Benfica (agg 5–3)". BBC Sport (BBC). http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/8606943.stm. Retrieved 2010-04-09. 
12. ^ Fletcher, Paul (2010-06-29). "Paraguay 0–0 Japan (5–3 pens)". BBC Sport (BBC). http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2010/matches/match_55/default.stm. Retrieved 2010-06-29. 
13. ^ Fletcher, Paul (2010-07-03). "Paraguay 0–1 Spain". BBC Sport (BBC). http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2010/matches/match_60/default.stm. Retrieved 2010-07-05. 
14. ^ Óscar Cardozo song on YouTube

External links

• Oscar Cardozo PortuGOAL profile
• Video with some of the goals scored by Oscar Cardozo in Newell's Old Boys
• ESPN Profile
• [1]
• Óscar Cardozo at National-Football-Teams.com

Persondata
Name	Cardozo, Oscar
Alternative names
Short description	footballer
Date of birth	20 May 1990
Place of birth	Juan Eulogio Estigarribia, Paraguay
Date of death
Place of death