Santa Cruz, lone Man City player in CL
Roque Santa Cruz
Football can sometimes be odd. Despite all the resilience of Manchester United, the firepower of their neighbours City, new-found — but often found wanting — flair of Chelsea and the perpetual youthfulness of Arsenal, the 37-year-old David Beckham is England’s only remaining representative in the Champions League.
However, Beckham’s presence in the last-8 stage of the elite competition may not be ‘odd enough’ as the fashion icon will always find want-to-be movers and shakers of world football. But far from the flash-lights muffling the PSG player in Paris, in the serene Spanish city of Malaga, Mancunians will find a representative of their own.
Roque Santa Cruz, the Manchester City discard, now plying his trade on loan at Malaga, is the reigning English champions’ only player in the Champions League quarter-finals. Of all the talent and panache City can boast of, it is an outcast that has finally enjoyed some success at the biggest stage in European club football. Irony is that, like Beckham’s PSG, Malaga too are owned by Qataris. But the comparison ends there. Unlike the PSG’s steady inflow of money, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Al-Thani seems to have lost the interest in air-dropping his oil-riches at Malaga.
The summer of 2012 witnessed the closure of the pipeline from the Middle East. Players’ salaries went unpaid, debts were reaching sky-high and the Qataris were not visible anywhere near the tourist spots of Andalusia. Out went Santi Cazorla and Salomon Rondon, in came Santa Cruz and his long injury list.
The Paraguan striker may have done a better medical performance at Malaga but his on-field exploits have been limited. In the 25 games played so far, Santa Cruz has scored just five times. But that’s perhaps irrelevant for him. He, along with his fairytale-scripting teammates, is still in the Champions League. Despite the managerial brilliance of Manuel Pellegrini, Malaga may not be able to shut out Borussia Dortmund in the second leg at Westfalenstadion like they did in the goalless draw at home, but Roque Santa Cruz will still be able to enjoy a few more minutes of Champions League. And Man City fans can watch ‘their player’ take on the team that knocked them out of Europe on TV, with a grimace.
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