on 20 August. Santa Cruz was labelled 'Roque-Mania' by newspaper Versus, who described the 2018 and 2019 seasons as when his return to Olimpia Asunción reached its top, following four consecutive domestic titles under the coaching of Daniel Garnero. Upon his departure from the club in 2021, Santa Cruz left Olimpia Asunción as its second-highest scorer behind Mauro Caballero, with 91 goals. Libertad In September 2021, a transfer for Santa Cruz to Libertad to be able to play the semi-finals of the Copa Sudamericana was announced, but the transfer attempt failed. On 27 December 2021, the 40-year-old Santa Cruz was officially revealed as Club Libertad's signing, announced through Twitter by the club. His signing was at the wish of Horacio Cartes. He joined until 31 December 2022. Before he departed Olimpia Asunción, who was in debt with him, Santa Cruz changed part of the debt payment into an inversion of bonds. Following his signing, Santa Cruz was the subject of criticism by Olimpia Asunción fans. Within the first 24 hours of announcing Santa Cruz as Libertad's signing, he lost thousands of Social Media followers who were Olimpia Asunción fans. The transfer was officially complete in January of Paraguay's 2022 summer transfer window. International career Since Santa Cruz already debuted in Paraguay's domestic league, national team coach Paulo César Carpegiani contemplated taking the 17-year-old to the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France. In 1999, Santa Cruz represented Paraguay's under-20 team before receiving a call up to the senior team when he made his debut aged 17 in a friendly match against Mexico on 28 April 1999. Santa Cruz scored his first goal for Paraguay in a 3–2 loss against Uruguay on 17 June 1999. He had scored a total of ten goals at international level for Paraguay (including U-20) in 1999. Due to his performances and involvement in three major tournaments of that same year (1999 South American Youth Championship, 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship and the 1999 Copa América), Santa Cruz was awarded as the Paraguayan Footballer of the Year by Diario ABC Color and the Paraguayan Football Association. In 2000, Santa Cruz was selected to represent the under-23 at the 2000 CONMEBOL Men Pre-Olympic Tournament in Brazil, which saw Paraguay fail to qualify for the 2000 Summer Olympics. He appeared in four matches at the tournament, against Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, and Peru, scoring a double against the latter. During