Julio Ricardo Cruz

Julio Cruz
Personal information
Full name Julio Ricardo Cruz
Date of birth (1974-10-10) 10 October 1974
Place of birth Santiago del Estero, Argentina
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[1]
Playing position Forward
Youth career
1992–1993 Banfield
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1993–1996 Banfield 65 (16)
1996–1997 River Plate 29 (17)
1997–2000 Feyenoord 86 (45)
2000–2003 Bologna 88 (27)
2003–2009 Internazionale 125 (49)
2009–2010 Lazio 25 (4)
Total 417 (153)
National team
1997–2008 Argentina 22 (3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Julio Ricardo Cruz (born 10 October 1974) is an Argentine former footballer. He played for clubs in Argentina, the Netherlands and Italy before retiring in 2010. The longest spell of his career was spent with Internazionale, with whom he won four consecutive Serie A titles, among other honours. A large and physical player, he usually played as a striker but he has even played as a winger, attacking midfielder and a center forward. In 2015, he opened his own charity foundation, the Julio Cruz Foundation.

Cruz earned 22 caps for the Argentina national team from his debut in 1997, scoring three goals. He represented Argentina at the 1997 Copa América and the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Early career

A tall, physical striker at 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in), Cruz started his career with Banfield in 1993. In 1996, he moved to River Plate.

Feyenoord

In 1997, Cruz moved to Europe to join Dutch club Feyenoord, showing a great potential in terms of scoring proficiency. In 2000, he joined Bologna in Italy.

Bologna

Under the management of Francesco Guidolin at Bologna, Cruz was mainly used as a lone striker. While he was often derided by fans and the media alike for his lack of goalscoring proficiency, he did prove to be extremely apt at holding the ball up in order to bring the other attackers into the game. In 2001–02, he played an integral part in Bologna's seventh-placed finish in Serie A, and while he only netted ten goals in the league, he earnt back the respect of his critics for his intelligent and passionate football.[2]

Internazionale

In 2003, Cruz left Bologna to sign for Internazionale.[3] He was allocated squad number 9 and made his Inter debut on 14 September 2003 in the 1–0 away win against Siena, playing the full 90 minutes.[4] Three days later, he scored his first Inter goal in the 3–0 victory over Arsenal at Highbury Stadium on 17 September 2003 in the UEFA Champions League.[5] He continued with his good form, notably scoring a crucial double against Juventus in a 3–1 away win.[6]

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, he scored 12 league goals in his first two seasons with Inter. In a Champions League match against Porto on 1 November 2005, he scored twice in 30 minutes after being sent in to replace striker Adriano, turning a 0–1 into a 2–1 victory.

In the winter of 2005, Cruz was linked with rumours to Roma and other clubs because his contract was set to expire, however in February 2006, he extended his contract to the summer of 2008.[7] On 8 April 2006, Cruz received his first ever red card during the league match against Ascoli for dissent after sarcastically applauding referee Stefano Farina.[8]

Cruz ended the season as Inter's top scorer with 21 goals, including 15 Serie A goals, and the second goal in the return match for the final of the 2006 Coppa Italia Final that Inter won 3–1 against Roma. He signed a new contract in September 2007.[9]

Lazio

Cruz (#74) during his time as a Lazio player

On 31 July 2009, Cruz left Inter and signed with Lazio on a two-year contract as free agent, but also paid €2.15 million sign-on fees to Van Dijk B.V.; Lazio was later fined by the FIGC due to third parties ownership and unlicensed agent Dennis Anthonius Johannes Maria Sickman.[10][11]

Cruz made his Lazio debut on 8 August in the 2009 Supercoppa Italiana against Inter, appearing as a 72nd-substitute in an eventual 2–1 win at Beijing National Stadium, China, winning his first trophy in Lazio colours.[12] He played his first match as a starter 12 days later, a match which brought his European debut with Lazio as well, playing the full 90 minutes in a 3–0 home win against IF Elfsborg for the first leg of play-off round of 2009–10 UEFA Europa League.[13]

At the end of 2009–10 season, Cruz's contract with Lazio was mutually terminated, as he was suffering from injury. He announced his retirement from football on 7 September 2010, declining offers from Napoli and Grosseto.[14]

International career

Cruz amassed 22 caps and 4 goals for Argentina.[15] He participated in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, appearing as a late substitute in the matches against the Netherlands and Germany.[16] He scored the opening penalty in the penalty shoot-outs against Germany, but Argentina lost 4–2 on penalties.[17]

International goals

Scores and results list Argentina's goal tally first.[15]

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 9 June 1999 Soldier Field, Chicago, United States  Mexico 2–12–2Friendly match
2. 13 February 2002 Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff, Wales  Wales 1–11–1Friendly match
3. 16 November 2005 Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar  Qatar 0–20–3Friendly match

Nickname

Cruz's nickname, "El Jardinero" (Spanish for "The Gardener"), was given to him at an early age as he was working as a groundskeeper for local team Banfield in 1993 when he was summoned by Oscar López to fill in for a missing player one day for a practice match. Upon noticing his talent, Banfield signed Cruz, and the nickname was born.[18][19]

Cruz was also nicknamed "Poncharello" by Inter Channel commentator Roberto Scarpini due to his similar appearance with the character from the 1980s TV show CHiPs.[19]

Career statistics

Club

Club Performance[20][21][22]
Club Season League Cup Europe[23] Total
App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals
Banfield 1993–94 5 0 — — — — 5 0
1994–95 26 6 — — — — 26 6
1995–96 32 10 — — — — 32 10
1996–97 1 0 — — — — 1 0
Total6416————6416
River Plate 1996–97 29 17 — — — — 29 17
Total2917————2917
Feyenoord 1997–98 27 14 — — 6 3 33 17
1998–99 29 15 — — 2 0 31 15
1999–2000 30 15 — — 8 3 38 18
2000–01 — — — — 1 0 1 0
Total8644——17610350
Bologna 2000–01 27 7 — — 1 0 28 7
2001–02 33 10 2 2 — — 35 12
2002–03 28 10 1 0 3 1 35 11
Total882732719830
Internazionale 2003–04 21 7 4 3 2 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 3 3 22 12
2007–08 28 13 3 4 6 2 38 19
2008–09 17 2 1 0 5 1 23 3
Total125492613301319275
Lazio 2009–10 25 4 — — 4 0 29 4
Total2540040294
Career Totals 417 153 29 15 62 20 513 189
Updated 23 May 2010

International

[15]

Argentina national team
YearAppsGoals
199751
199800
199921
200010
200140
200211
200300
200400
200521
200620
200700
200850
Total224

Honours

Club

River Plate[22]
Feyenoord[22]
Internazionale[22]
Lazio[22]

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Julio Ricardo Cruz". Goal.com. 26 February 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  2. ↑ "BOLOGNA TEAM OF THE DECADE".
  3. ↑ "JULIO CRUZ JOINS INTER". inter.it. 30 August 2003. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  4. ↑ "L'Inter vince a Siena senza Vieri e Recoba" (in Italian). Repubblica.it. 14 September 2003. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  5. ↑ "Imperious Inter make flying start". UEFA.com. 17 September 2003. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  6. ↑ "Inter, la resurrezione Travolta la Juve al Delle Alpi" (in Italian). Repubblica.it. 29 November 2003. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  7. ↑ "CRUZ EXTENDS INTER STAY UNTIL 2008". inter.it. 20 February 2006. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  8. ↑ "L'Inter barcolla, poi vince" (in Italian). Gazzetta.it. 8 April 2006. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  9. ↑ "Cruz: "Very happy with contract extension"". inter.it. 7 September 2007. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
  10. ↑ "Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio" (PDF). FIGC.it. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  11. ↑ "relazione semestrale consolidata S.S. Lazio s.p.a. al 31–12–09" (in Italian). SS Lazio. 3 March 2010. Retrieved 31 March 2010. .
  12. ↑ "Eto'o scores but Inter beaten in Super Cup". CNN.com. 8 August 2009. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  13. ↑ "Lazio vs. Elfsborg 3 – 0". Soccerway. 20 August 2009. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  14. ↑ Giuseppe Granieri (7 September 2010). "L'ag. di Cruz: "Offerte? Ha chiuso con il calcio giocato"" (in Italian). FCInterNews.it. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  15. 1 2 3 "Julio Ricardo Cruz". National Football Teams. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  16. ↑ "Holland 0-0 Argentina". BBC Sport. 21 June 2006. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  17. ↑ "Germany 1-1 Argentina". BBC Sport. 30 June 2006. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  18. ↑ "Julio Cruz: "El Jardinero? Ecco come è nato"" (in Italian). Corriere Dello Sport. 25 February 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  19. 1 2 "European football's best nicknames". UEFA. 27 January 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  20. ↑ "Julio Cruz". ESPNsoccernet. Retrieved 3 December 2007.
  21. ↑ "Julio Ricardo Cruz profile". F.C. Internazionale Milano. Archived from the original on 10 December 2007. Retrieved 16 December 2007.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 "Argentina - J. Cruz - Profile with news, career statistics and history". Soccerway. 25 February 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  23. ↑ Counts for appearances and goals at the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup and UEFA Intertoto Cup.
  24. ↑ Roberto Di Maggio; Davide Rota (4 June 2015). "Italy - Coppa Italia Top Scorers". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 29 October 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
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