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Players: Abel Freddy Adu H. Almeida Pablo Aimar Bruno Alves Anderson J. Andrade N. Assis Vitor Baia Boa Morte Bosingwa M. Caneira Cardozo R. Carvalho Ze Castro Jorge Costa Rui Costa Conceicao Costinha F. Couto M. da Costa Dady Danny Deco Derlei Di Maria C. Martins Y. Djalo Duda P. Emanuel M. Fernandes P. Ferreira Luis Figo Luis Filipe Nuno Gomes L. Gonzalez Helton Izmailov Karagounis Katsouranis Liedson L. Lopez Luisao David Luiz Makukula Maniche Mantorras F. Meira R. Meireles P. Mendes Miguel Miguelito Moreira J. Moutinho Nani Nelson R. Patricio Pauleta C. Peixoto Pepe Petit Pereirinha Joao Pinto H. Postiga Polga Quaresma Quim J. Ribeiro Ricardo R. Rocha F. Rochemback C. Rodriguez Ronaldo Romagnoli P. Sousa Simao Tarik Tiago J. Tomas Tonel Miguel Veloso Hugo Viana Vukcevic Abel Xavier H. Yebda Select player

Player profile: Oscar Cardozo

Full name: Oscar Rene Cardozo

Position: Forward

Date of Birth: 20 May 1983

Birthplace: Juan Eulogio Estigarribia, Paraguay

Any football fan will tell you one of the most exciting facets of following your team is watching the reputation of a virtual unknown grow before your eyes to become an idol and a symbol who is synonymous with your club’s emblem.

Paraguayan striker, Oscar Cardozo, is a case in point. Wherever the player has gone he has become a success and a treasure for both his team and their supporters.

Oscar Rene Cardozo, standing 1.93 metres tall and possessor of a lethal left foot, has left an impressive track record at each of his previous clubs. He started his career with 2nd division Paraguayan side, 3 de Febrero, before the country’s big boys, Club Nacional, snapped him up in 2004.

In his first season Cardozo was carefully groomed as the coaching staff restricted him to just 6 appearances – enough for the striker to notch 7 goals. Nacional knew they had something special, and decided to give Cardozo a little more leeway in 2006. In the 12 games he played, he scored an astonishing 17 goals.

An inevitable move to one of South America’s bigger leagues was bound to come and sure enough, in 2006 Argentine club Newell’s Old Boys splashed out US$ 1.2m for Paraguay’s next big thing.

Goals galore

In Argentina Cardozo found the net 11 times in 16 appearances before the turn of the year, earning him the 2006 Paraguayan Footballer of the Year Award. His goalscoring did not let up, with a further 10 goals making a total of 21 in his debut season.

In June 2007, after two weeks of hard negotiations, Benfica opened their wallets and paid over nine million euros for 80% of the player’s sporting rights. The Portuguese club had obviously decided they were bringing an exceptional talent to Lisbon. The transfer fee is the second highest ever paid by the Portuguese giants, behind only the signing of Simao Sabrosa from Barcelona.

If Cardozo makes a similar impact to Simao, Benfica may finally be ready challenge FC Porto for domestic supremacy and build on their rich heritage in European football after too long playing a bit-part role in international competition.

CLUB APPEARANCES* GOALS Club Nacional 18 24 Newell's Old Boys 33 21       PARAGUAY 3 2

* League only
** Up to July 2007