Óscar Cardozo

Club Atlético 3 de Febrero

2003 season

Cardozo commenced his professional career with modest Club Atlético 3 de Febrero of Ciudad del Este, participating in the División Intermedia championship in 2003 and forming a partner ship with striker Roberto Gamarra. In Round 1 of the 2003 season, Cardozo scored in a 1–1 home draw against Cerro Corá. In the following fixture, he scored in a 2–0 home victory against Sportivo Iteño on 11 May. Two weeks later, he netted in a 3–0 home victory against River Plate Asunción on 25 May. Cardozo would not score again until Round 11, where the player scored the only goal in a 1–0 away victory for 3 de Febrero against Cerro Porteño de Presidente Franco on 13 July. The following week, Cardozo would again score against Cerro Corá in a 1–1 away draw on 27 July. On 10 August, Cardozo scored his first double in a 2–0 home victory against Nacional Asunción. On 7 May, Cardozo would score the only goal for 3 de Febrero as they were defeated 3–1 away against River Plate Asunción on 16 August. In the following fixture, Cardozo would again score, this time in a 1–1 home draw against Presidente Hayes on 23 August. On 30 August, Cardozo scored in a 5–1 away thrashing against Colegiales, which totaled to five consecutive goals in four matches. Cardozo's last league goal would come in Round 21, when the player netted in a 2–1 away victory against Deportivo Recoleta on 27 September. 3 de Febrero had finished in 2nd place of the División…

On 7 October 2006, Cardozo made his international debut for Paraguay in an exhibition game with Australia, and he scored his first goal on 5 June of the following year in another friendly, against Mexico. He was selected for the squad that appeared in that year's Copa América: the tournament in Venezuela ended in the quarter-finals and the player netted once, in a 3–1 group stage win against the United States. Cardozo scored two goals in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification stages, as Paraguay qualified for the finals in South Africa. On 29 June 2010, he netted the winning penalty in the shootout against Japan (5–3 victory), as La Albirroja qualified for the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time ever. In the following game, however, with the score at 0–0, he missed a 59th-minute penalty against Spain in a 0–1 defeat against the eventual champions. Cardozo was overlooked by coach Gerardo Martino for the 2011 Copa América squad, despite scoring 23 official goals for Benfica in 2010–11. Having already been included by Ramón Díaz in the Albirroja preliminary squad, Cardozo would again miss out 2015 Copa América due to a back injury. On 16 June 2019, aged 36, he scored against Qatar in Copa América and became the oldest player in Paraguay's history to score in that competition, breaking Delfín Benítez Cáceres' 1946 record.

Cardozo is the son of Rosa María, who claimed that "Óscar has been a very good son and has managed to help us and take us away from poverty". His father is Arnaldo and his parents have five children.

In spite of the same surname, a similar nickname and physical resemblance, he is not related to Ramón Cardozo (known as "Tacuarita"), who is also a footballer and a forward. He obtained Portuguese citizenship in November 2014.