FIFA World Cup 2010- Manchester City star Roque Santa Cruz speaks out
Manchester City star Roque Santa Cruz has admitted that there is no use to mourn or regret over Paraguay’s exit from the World Cup. Paraguay were defeated by Spain in the quarter final. The match was action packed and dramatic, with both teams missing a penalty each. A single goal from striker David Villa ended Paraguay’s dreams in the World Cup. It was Paraguay’s most successful campaign, looked strong and possibly played a better game than Spain.
Santa Cruz urged the fans and supporters to get on with their lives and appreciated his team’s performance for reaching so deep in the tournament. They performed better than heavyweights England, Italy and France, who were knocked out earlier than them. Paraguay dominated most of the match, and celebrated when they thought they had taken the lead just before half time. It was however not the case, as the goal was offside.
Their performance would have been perfect, provided Cardozo had converted the penalty. His penalty was superbly saved by Iker Casillas and was seen crying after the match. Santa Cruz insisted that they should not talk about the things that could or could not have been done and apart from the penalty, they played a better game. Cruz came on as a substitute for Valdez in the second half.
"But we also had our chances and we didn't make them into the goals we needed to get back into the game. So we are still very pleased with the performance we did.", argued the Manchester City Striker.
Santa Cruz was injured for a major part of the season with Manchester City, and therefore could not play. Carlos Tevez and Craig Bellamy played for the Eastlands, with Adebayor also missing out owing to injuries and mental trauma. Cruz looked a bit slow in the game when he came on in the second half, and his shot in the dying moments of the match was expertly saved by Spanish Goal Keeper Iker Casillas.
Upon inquiring his progress to overcome the injuries, he played down talk about fitness, and stated that he played more than 20 minutes for his side. He explained that there were a lot chances which were created, and that in football it is hard to make those chances count. He agreed to the fact that Casillas made some impressive saves, and nothing can be done to counter that.
Cruz on the other hand praised his team’s performance and termed his team as being “fantastic”. He was proud of his team’s achievements in South Africa, where they topped the group in which they were pitted against 2006 Champions Italy. Paraguay conceded just one goal in three matches to top the group and faced Japan in the Round of 16. They overcame the Blue Samurais in a tight encounter which could not be decided even in extra time. The match had to be settled on penalties, where Paraguay won 5-3. They had a dream run, and looked to tackle Spain in the quarter finals.
He stated that his team may not have performed as they all would have liked to but agreed that they were against the very best teams in the tournament, who are tougher than opponents in the friendly matches. Paraguay defeated Brazil 2-0 in a World Cup qualifying match, in which Santa Cruz scored. He was proud of his team, and is likely to return to Manchester City for the pre-season matches in USA. He only made 19 appearances for the Eastlands and scored only thrice. His appearances however were late second half substitutions and aims to add more goals to his tally, and reserve a XI place for his club.
Spain meets Germany in an epic semi final encounter. Germany thwarted Argentina 4-0 to reach the semi finals, with Klose scoring twice. It will be one of the most gruelling encounters as both teams play with a completely different style of play, but dominate the game owing to their possession in midfield.
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