Clubs: CA 3 de Febrero, Club Nacional, CA Newell's Old Boys, SL Benfica

• Cardozo started out in his native Paraguay with Febrero before joining Nacional, where his prolific marksmanship – notably in the air and from free-kicks − brought him 29 goals in 63 league games.

• Moved to Argentina in 2006, joining Newell's Old Boys; maintained his impressive strike rate and earned a first international cap for Paraguay – in an October 2006 friendly against Australia in Brisbane (1-1) – before going on to represent his country at the 2007 Copa América.

• Became Benfica's second most expensive purchase, at €9.2m, when he joined in June 2007; hit the ground running with 13 goals in his debut Liga campaign plus four in Europe and followed that up with 17 Liga strikes in 2008/09.

• Raised his profile to new heights in 2009/10 as he spearheaded Benfica's domestic title triumph with a league-best tally of 26 goals that included four hat-tricks; also finished as the UEFA Europa League's joint-top marksman with nine (plus one in the play-off round).

• Less successful at international level, he was not an initial starter for Paraguay at the 2010 FIFA World Cup but scored the decisive penalty in the last-16 shoot-out against Japan – only to miss from the spot in regular play in the quarter-final against Spain.