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. One week later, Cardozo scored a double against
Sportivo San Lorenzo in a 2–0 home victory on 7 May.– this made him the second most expensive signing in the club's history, only surpassed by
Simão for whom the club paid €13 million in 2001. Cardozo finished
his first season with 22 official goals, but Benfica came out empty in silverware. On 22 February 2008, he scored a
last-minute goal against
1. FC Nürnberg for
the campaign's
UEFA Cup (2–2 away draw, 3–2 aggregate win), thereby keeping his promise of surpassing the 20-goal mark. In
2008–09 Cardozo scored 17 goals, all in the
league, including the equalizer against
Porto on 30 August 2008. He finished second in the
Bola de Prata race, losing only to
Nenê of
Nacional. In April 2008, Benfica bought out the remaining 20% of his rights for a further €2.5 million, thus investing €11.6 million total in his economic rights. in 2012 Cardozo had a very positive
2009–10 pre-season, netting eight times in ten matches. On 31 August 2009, in the third league game, he scored a
hat-trick in an 8–1 home demolition of
Vitória de Setúbal. On 22 October, in the
Europa League group stage match against
Everton,
Tacuara netted twice in two minutes in a 5–0 thrashing at the
Estádio da Luz, and added a further three in the league against
Nacional (6–1, at home), and with
Académica de Coimbra (4–0, home). In the Europa League quarter-finals against
Liverpool, Cardozo scored two
penalties for a 2–1 home win. He also found the net in the second leg at
Anfield with a
free kick, but in a 1–4 loss and subsequent elimination; as Benfica won the national championship, adding
the year's
domestic League Cup, he finished with a career-high 38 goals in 47 matches (26 in the domestic league, leading Porto's
Radamel Falcao by only one), partnering well with Argentine
Javier Saviola. On 10 February 2010, Benfica sold 20% of his economic rights to
Benfica Stars Fund for €4 million, valuing him at €20 million. At the end of the
2011–12 campaign Cardozo was crowned the Primeira Liga's top scorer for the second time, with 20 goals – joint with
Braga's
Lima – as Benfica finished in second position. On 10 December 2012, he scored three in a 3–1
Lisbon derby win at Sporting (even though one of the goals was initially attributed to
Marcos Rojo as an
own goal), repeating the feat the following week at home against
Marítimo (4–1), which resulted in him surpassing the 100-goal mark in domestic league play. On 2 January 2013, Cardozo took his
season tally to 21 goals in 19 official games after netting three in a 6–0 home routing of
Desportivo das Aves for
the campaign's
Taça de Portugal. On 2 May, he scored his fifth and sixth in eight contests in
the season's Europa League, being crucial to a 3–1 home win against
Fenerbahçe in the semi-finals second leg with the subsequent 3–2 aggregate qualification to
the final in
Amsterdam. In the decisive match, he netted from the penalty spot in the 68th minute for the 1–1 equalizer against
Chelsea, who won it 2–1. Cardozo was replaced after 70 minutes in the
domestic cup final on 26 May 2013, with Benfica leading 1–0 but then losing 1–2 to
Vitória de Guimarães. At the end of the game, he angrily confronted manager
Jorge Jesus, inclusively pushing him; he later apologised for his actions, being fined for half of his monthly salary. Cardozo started
the new season after his teammates due to the controversy, but soon returned to his scoring ways. His goals against Guimarães,
Estoril, and Nacional were vital in keeping Benfica in the race for the title. On 9 November 2013, he put three past Sporting in a 4–3 home win for
the domestic cup's fourth round, increasing to 13 the goals he scored against Sporting, surpassing
Manuel Fernandes in the list of top goalscorers of the
Lisbon derby. In November 2013, an injury ruled him out for months. When he returned, he found himself relegated to the bench, with the team now fully adapted to play with Lima and
Rodrigo. On 1 February, after missing his ninth penalty kick in Primeira Liga, in a match against
Gil Vicente, Cardozo became the player with most missed penalties in the competition. On 14 May 2014, Cardozo missed a
penalty shootout against
Sevilla in a
Europa League final loss on penalties. He still finished the campaign with 11 goals all competitions comprised, including seven in
the domestic league which was won for the 33rd time. In early August 2014,
Trabzonspor announced they were negotiating with Benfica and Cardozo. On 4 August 2014, Cardozo left Benfica and thanked the club by stating, "You will always be in my heart". Cardozo played for Benfica since 2007 and, together with
Maxi Pereira and
Luisão, was one of the team captains. He is Benfica's ninth
all-time goalscorer, second in European competitions, and the highest-scoring foreigner at the club, with 172 goals.
Trabzonspor against
Galatasaray in 2014 On 4 August 2014, Cardozo moved Turkish
Süper Lig side Trabzonspor for a €5 million fee, (Benfica received €4 million, the fund €1 million) with a further €1.65 million contingent on performance-related bonuses. He signed a contract with €2.5 million per season plus bonuses. On 21 August, he scored his first goal for the club, in a 2–0 home win against Russian side
Rostov for
the campaign's UEFA Europa League. Cardozo made his league debut in a 1–1 away draw against
İstanbul Başakşehir on 22 September. He came onto the field in the 52nd minute for
Fatih Atik, and scored a 93rd-minute penalty to equalise. On 1 December, Cardozo scored his first hat-trick in a 4–1 home victory against
Gençlerbirliği. He scored in the 8th, 40th and 65th minutes of the match before being substituted off of the field for Fatih Atik in the 70th minute. Cardozo brought his goal scoring tally to eight goals in nine league appearances. During a group stage match of the
2014–15 Turkish Cup, Cardozo scored a double in Trabzonspor's 9–0 home victory against
Manisaspor on 25 December. Cardozo rounded off the season scoring 17 league goals in 29 appearances as Trabzonspor finished in fifth place and qualified for the
2015–16 UEFA Europa League second qualifying round. He finished in third place of the Süper Lig top goalscorers list, behind
Demba Ba (18 goals) and
Fernandão (22 goals). After the 2014–15 season, it was announced that Cardozo would not play in the
2015 Copa América for Paraguay due to a back injury, whereupon it was then revealed by his agent that he had been playing through the pain for his club side.
Olympiacos On 31 August 2016, Cardozo joined Greek champions
Olympiacos. He scored his first goal in the
Super League Greece on 12 December that year, opening the score in a 2–0 away win over
PAS Giannina and thus ending his seven-match goalless run.
Libertad 2017–22: Back-to-back Torneo Apertura titles On 28 June 2017, Cardozo signed with
Libertad in Paraguay. In his first match for the team, Cardozo scored a double in a 5–1 away win over Huracán in the
2017 Copa Sudamericana on 12 July. On 13 February 2019, he scored a half-way line goal, the fourth in a 5–1 home win over Bolivian side
The Strongest in the
second qualifying stage of the Copa Libertadores. On 5 November 2019, he scored the opening goal of Libertad's 4–1 away victory over
Sol América in the
Copa Paraguay semifinals. In the following month, on 4 December, Libertad won their first Copa Paraguay after beating
Guaraní 3–0. Cardozo came on in the 83rd minute of the
final. On 21 May 2021, Libertad faced Sol América on the last matchday of the
2021 Torneo Apertura with the title on the line, but Cardozo did not play the match due to having tested positive for COVID-19 a few days before. Without him, Libertad lost 0–1, but two days later, the club secured their twenty-first league title after Nacional failed to win their match. Cardozo contributed with nine goals and nine assists during the campaign.
2023: Best player in Paraguay at the age of 40 On 3 April 2023, Cardozo scored four goals in a 5–0 trashing of Cerro Porteño, marking his first-ever poker in his professional career, with his final goal of the night being also his 100th with the Libertad shirt in official competitions, thus becoming the second player in the history of Libertad to do so after
Juan Samudio. In doing so at the age of 39 years and 318 days, he became the oldest player to score a poker in the 21st century, surpassing
Pablo Escobar's record from 2018 by 19 days, as well as the second in history, only behind
Josef Bican in 1955, aged 41. In the following month, on 4 May, just 16 days shy from his 40th birthday, Cardozo scored the opening goal in an eventual 1–2 loss to
Athletico Paranaense in the
2023 Copa Libertadores group stage, thus becoming one of the oldest goalscorers in Copa Libertadores history. Libertad finished third in the group and it was therefore relegated to the
2023 Copa Sudamericana final stages, where on 13 July, Cardozo scored a last-minute winner against
Atlético Tigre in the first leg of the
knockout round play-offs in an eventual 3–1 aggregate win. On 20 October, he scored his 400th career goal in a 3–0 win over
Sportivo Ameliano. On 26 November, Cardozo scored a brace in a 3–1 comeback victory over
Club Olimpia, the first from the penalty spot and the second with a free-kick, while Libertad's third goal was scored by his fellow 40-year-old attacking partner
Roque Santa Cruz. At the end of the season, the 40-year-old Cardozo emerged as the top scorer of the
2023 Paraguayan Primera División season and with ease, being the top scorer in both the Apertura tournament (10 goals) and the Clausura tournament (11 goals) for a total of 21 goals in the Paraguayan league, which was 7 more than his closest pursuer, the 23-year-old Gustavo Aguilar. Furthermore, Cardozo was also champion in both tournaments and then helped Libertad win the Paraguay Cup to complete the domestic treble.
2024–present: Libertad all-time top scorer On 30 May 2024, Cardozo scored a first-half equaliser in an eventual 2–1 win over Uruguay's
Club Nacional in the last match of the
2024 Copa Libertadores group stage, becoming, at the age of 41 years and 10 days, the fourth-oldest player to score in the Copa Libertadores. The following week, on 5 June 2024, he scored a free-kick against Club Olimpia to help his team to a 3–1 win. Later that year, on 29 November 2024, Cardozo scored a stoppage-time equaliser from the penalty spot in an eventual 3–2 victory over Cerro Porteño in the Torneo Apertura; this was his 132nd goal for Libertad, overtaking Juan Samudio to become the club's all-time top scorer. The following week, on 6 December, he played in the final of the
2024 Copa Paraguay, coming off the bench in the second-half to help his side to a 1–0 win over Nacional. In total, he scored 12 goals and made two assists in 47 games for Libertad in 2024. This goal also saw him become the third-oldest goalscorer in the history of the Copa Libertadores, only behind his teammate Roque Santa Cruz in 2024 (42 years and 8 months) and
Zé Roberto in 2017 (42 years and 10 months). ==International career==