Yordan Eduardo Santa Cruz Vera (born 7 October 1993) is a Cuban professional football player who plays for the Cuba national team.

Yordan Santa Cruz
Personal information
Full name Yordan Eduardo Santa Cruz Vera[1]
Date of birth (1993-10-07) 7 October 1993 (age 31)[1][2]
Place of birth Cuba[1]
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2018 FC Cienfuegos
2018 FC Santiago de Cuba
2019 FC Cienfuegos
2019 Jarabacoa FC
2020 Scarborough SC
International career
2014 Cuba U-21 ? (0)
2015– Cuba 10 (4)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 8 September 2018

He debuted internationally in March 2015 against the Dominican Republic with a 3-0 victory. In September 2018, he scored twice against Turks and Caicos Islands in an 11-0 victory, resulting in a huge win for Cuba.[3]

Club career

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Santa Cruz played in the Campeonato Nacional de Fútbol de Cuba in 2009 with FC Cienfuegos.[4] In 2018, he played for a season with FC Santiago de Cuba before returning to Cienfuegos the following year.[5] In 2019, he was named the province's best footballer of the year.[6] In 2019, he played abroad in the Liga Dominicana de Fútbol with Jarabacoa FC.[7]

In 2020, he played in the Canadian Soccer League with Scarborough SC.[8] In his debut season with Scarborough he assisted in securing the First Division title.[9]

International career

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International goals

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Cuba score listed first, score column indicates score after each Santa Cruz goal.[4]
International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 25 March 2015 Estadio Cibao, Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic 2   Dominican Republic 2–0 3–0 Friendly
2. 22 March 2018 Estadio Nacional de Fútbol, Managua, Nicaragua 4   Nicaragua 1–0 1–3
3. 8 September 2018 Estadio Pedro Marrero, Havana, Cuba 10   Turks and Caicos Islands 7–0 11–0 2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League qualification
4. 8–0
5. 29 September 2018 11   Cayman Islands 2–0 5–0 Friendly
6. 3–0
7. 12 October 2018 Kirani James Athletic Stadium, St. George's, Grenada 12   Grenada 2–0 2–0 2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League qualification
8. 17 November 2018 Estadio Pedro Marrero, Havan, Cuba 13   Dominican Republic 1–0 1–0

Rape accusation

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Santa Cruz Vera was accused of rape by an American woman in an incident that occurred in Jamaica on March 31, 2015.[10] Cuba's national soccer team had just participated in an international friendly match against Jamaica's team in the Montego Bay Sports Complex. According to the lawsuit, the woman identified Santa Cruz Vera as one of three men that raped her in a resort bathroom. In the lawsuit, the woman said the Cuban government intervened on the players’ behalf and compromised the investigation. DNA evidence from the athletes was not provided to Jamaican authorities, according to law enforcement there. To this day, no one has been arrested or charged.

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Cuba - J. Santa Cruz - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com.
  2. ^ FIFA.com
  3. ^ "Game Detail". www.concacafnationsleague.com.
  4. ^ a b "Santa Cruz, Yordan". National Football Teams. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  5. ^ Carrasquedo, Alex (2019-03-07). "Yordan Santa, el capitán de Cuba es nuevo legionario de su país". AS USA (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2021-05-22. Retrieved 2020-09-30.
  6. ^ ""Para mí significa mucho más este premio"". 5 Septiembre (in Spanish). 2019-01-15. Retrieved 2020-09-30.
  7. ^ Sánchez, Darilys Reyes (2019-05-24). "Indetenible Yordan Santa Cruz en el fútbol dominicano". 5 Septiembre (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-09-30.
  8. ^ "SCARBOROUGH ON TOP WITH 3-2 VICTORY…….Playoffs to follow October 3rd games – Canadian Soccer League". September 30, 2020. Retrieved 2020-09-30.
  9. ^ Adamson, Stan (October 18, 2020). "VORKUTA RALLY FOR CSL CHAMPIONSHIP VICTORY – Canadian Soccer League". Canadian Soccer League. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  10. ^ "Indiana woman sues Cuba alleging rape by soccer players". Indianapolis Star. Retrieved 2018-10-31.