Julio Ricardo Cruz

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Julio Cruz
Personal information
Full name Julio Ricardo Cruz
Date of birth October 10, 1974 (1974-10-10) (age 33)
Place of birth    Santiago del Estero, Argentina
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current club Internazionale
Number 9
Youth clubs
Banfield
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1993–1996
1996–1997
1997–2000
2000–2003
2003–		 Banfield
River Plate
Feyenoord
Bologna
Internazionale		 065 (16)
029 (17)
086 (44)
088 (27)
112 (47)   
National team2
1997– Argentina 018 0(3)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of May 23, 2008.
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 22:57, 1 June 2008 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)

Julio Ricardo Cruz (born October 10, 1974 in Santiago del Estero) is an Argentinian footballer who plays for Italian side Internazionale.


Contents

[edit] Club career

A physical and tall forward at 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in), Cruz started his football career with Banfield in 1993. He moved to Argentinian team River Plate in 1996. In 1997, he moved to Europe again, being signed by Dutch team Feyenoord, and showing a great potential in terms of scoring proficiency. He then moved in 2000 to Serie A team Bologna. After having experienced some difficulties adapting to Italian football, Cruz successfully showed his potential.

In 2003, Cruz left Bologna and signed for Italian giants Internazionale.[1] With the nerazzurri, Cruz rarely played regularly in the first team, finding some playing time usually just when the leading strikers were unavailable, and often being used as a substitute, thus scoring 12 league goals in his first two seasons with Internazionale. He scored his first goal for Internazionale in the 3-0 victory over Arsenal at Highbury on 17 September 2003 in the Champions League. Despite the little playing time given to him, he has always performed well. In the Champions League game against Porto on 1 November 2005, he scored twice in half an hour after being sent in to replace striker Adriano, turning a goal deficit into a victory with Interwinning 2-1 .

In the winter of 2005, rumours linked him to Roma and other clubs because his contract was running out, but in February 2006 the contract was extended to the summer of 2008, ending the rumours.[2] He ended the season as the surprise top scorer for Internazionale with 21 goals, including 15 league goals, and the second goal in the return match for the final of the 2006 Coppa Italia that Inter won 3-1 against Roma.

He has often been given the captains armband when the senior players are rested.

Despite being injured at the start of the 2006–07 season, he has made an impressive comeback, scoring three goals for Inter in the Champions League as well as vital goals in the league campaign.

On 11 March 2007, Cruz scored the equalizer for Inter in the Milan derby just eleven seconds after coming on as a sub for Hernán Crespo, a derby which Inter would later go on to win, with his setting up Zlatan Ibrahimović for the winning goal. This season is turning out to be a good one for Cruz, following up on the success of last year and regularly featuring in the score sheets, keeping up with the other strikers despite being injured twice in the season, and his ability to score vital goals. He is currently averaging a very impressive record of scoring a goal every 109 minutes in the current season.

On 7 September 2007, due to the departure of Álvaro Recoba and the uncertainty surrounding the future of Adriano, Cruz signed another contract which will keep him with the nerazzurri until 2009. The extended contract will see Cruz compete with countryman Crespo, for second choice striker.

[edit] International career

With the Argentina national football team, Cruz has played 18 matches, scoring three times. He played in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, coming on as a late substitute in the matches against the Netherlands and Germany. He scored the opening penalty in the penalty shoot-outs but couldn't help Argentina progress into the semifinals.

[edit] Nickname

His nickname, "the gardener", "El Jardinero" in Spanish, was given to him at an early age in Argentina. He was working as a gardener for local team Banfield, cutting the grass and looking after the pitch, and when coach Oscar López was missing a player one day for a practise match, he was called over to make up the numbers. On noticing his talent, Banfield signed him. Since then Julio has always been known as El Jardinero. In recent years however, he has earned a new nickname, Poncherello, used during the famous radio football matches commentaries, on Interchannel. Due to his hair cut he was called "Poncherello", as in Frank Poncherello, Erik Estradas character from the American Series CHiPs.

[edit] Career statistics

Club Performance[3][4]
Club Season Domestic League Domestic Cups European games[5] Total
App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals
Club Atlético Banfield 1993–94 5 0 - - - - 5 0
1994–95 26 6 - - - - 26 6
1995–06 32 10 - - - - 32 10
1996–07 1 0 - - - - 1 0
Total 64 16 - - - - 64 16
Club Atlético River Plate 1996–97 29 17 - - - - 29 17
Total 29 17 - - - - 29 17
Feyenoord 1997–98 27 14 - - 6 3 33 17
1998–99 29 15 - - 2 0 31 15
1999–00 30 15 - - 8 3 38 18
2000–01 - - - - 1 0 1 0
Total 86 44 - - 17 6 103 50
Bologna F.C. 1909 2000–01 27 7 - - 1 0 28 7
2001–02 33 10 2 2 - - 35 12
2002–03 28 10 1 0 6 1 35 11
Total 88 27 3 2 7 1 98 30
F.C. Internazionale Milano 2003–04 21 7 4 3 10 1 35 11
2004–05 18 5 6 2 8 2 32 9
2005–06 31 15 8 2 6 4 45 21
2006–07 14 7 4 2 4 3 22 12
2007–08 26 13 3 3 4 2 33 18
Total 110 47 23 9 32 12 165 68
Career Totals 364 148 26 11 56 19 459 182
Updated 24 December 2007

[edit] Honours

Olympic medal record
Competitor for Flag of Argentina Argentina
Men’s Football
Silver 1996 Atlanta Team competition

[edit] Club

[edit] References

  1. ^ "JULIO CRUZ JOINS INTER", Internazionale, 2003-08-30. 
  2. ^ "CRUZ EXTENDS INTER STAY UNTIL 2008", Internazionale, 2006-02-20. 
  3. ^ Julio Cruz. ESPNsoccernet. Retrieved on 2007-12-03.
  4. ^ Julio Ricardo Cruz profile. F.C. Internazionale Milano. Retrieved on 2007-12-16.
  5. ^ Counts for appearances and goals at the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup and UEFA Intertoto Cup.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Argentina squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup
1 Abbondanzieri • 2 Ayala • 3 Sorín • 4 Coloccini • 5 Cambiasso • 6 Heinze • 7 Saviola • 8 Mascherano • 9 Crespo • 10 Riquelme • 11 Tévez • 12 Franco • 13 Scaloni • 14 Palacio • 15 Milito • 16 Aimar • 17 Cufré • 18 Rodríguez • 19 Messi • 20 Cruz • 21 Burdisso • 22 González • 23 Ustari • Coach: Pekerman
 Flag of Argentina
v • d • e
F.C. Internazionale Milano – current squad

1 Toldo • 2 Córdoba • 4 J. Zanetti • 5 Stanković • 6 Maxwell • 7 Figo • 8 Ibrahimović • 9 Cruz • 11 Jiménez • 12 Júlio César • 13 Maicon • 14 Vieira • 15 Dacourt • 16 Burdisso • 18 Crespo • 19 Cambiasso • 21 Solari • 22 Orlandoni • 23 Materazzi • 24 Rivas • 25 Samuel • 26 Chivu • 28 Maniche • 29 Suazo • 30 Pélé • 31 César • 36 Bolzoni • 37 Puccio • 40 Fatić • 45 Balotelli • 46 Napoli • 47 Filippini • 50 Siligardi • Coach: Mourinho