Nigeria on 10 April. Paraguay had obtained six points out of three games, they finished in first place of their respective group and advanced to the round of 16 knockout stages. Paraguay were drawn against Uruguay, where they were losing 2–0 before Santa Cruz scored a 62nd-minute penalty goal. He then scored for Paraguay in the 86th minute to level the scores at 2–2. The match was then decided via penalty shoot-out, where Santa Cruz had scored Paraguay's first penalty. After ten penalty shots had been taken, Santa Cruz took his second penalty shot which was missed. Uruguay subsequently won the penalty shoot-out 10–9. 1999 Copa América Santa Cruz performances in Paraguay's national youth teams led to a call-up to by national team coach Ever Almeida for the 1999 Copa América held in Paraguay. In Paraguay's second group stage match, Santa Cruz scored a double against tournament invitees Japan on 2 July. Santa Cruz had scored a goal in each half, one goal in the 40th minute of the first half and the other goal in the 86th minute of the second half. Three days later, Santa Cruz scored the only goal for Paraguay in their 1–0 win against Peru on 5 July. Santa Cruz had scored in the 88th minute of the match. Paraguay had finished in first place of their respective group, with seven points, and advanced to the quarter-final stages of the tournament. Paraguay would face Uruguay on 10 July at the Defensores del Chaco in Asunción, where Uruguay won 5–3 via penalty shoot-out having drawn 1–1 in regulation time. 2002 FIFA World Cup Santa Cruz was included in Cesare Maldini's 23-man squad for the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, where he was handed the number 9 shirt. Santa Cruz started in Paraguay's first group stage match against South Africa on 2 June. He scored in the 39th minute, giving Paraguay a 1–0 first half lead, when he latched onto the end of a free-kick by Francisco Arce and headed the ball into the left side of the net. Santa Cruz played a full 90 minutes of the 2–2 draw. He again started in Paraguay's second group stage match against Spain on 7 June. He again played a full 90 minutes of the 3–1 loss and was yellow carded in the 80th minute. On 12 June, Santa Cruz played a full 90 minutes of