Julio Ricardo Cruz

Julio Cruz

Personal information
Full name	Julio Ricardo Cruz
Date of birth	October 10, 1974 (1974-10-10)
Place of birth	Santiago del Estero, Argentina
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position	Striker
Youth career
	Banfield
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1993–1996	Banfield	65	(16)
1996–1997	River Plate	29	(17)
1997–2000	Feyenoord	86	(44)
2000–2003	Bologna	88	(27)
2003–2009	Internazionale	129	(49)
2009–2010	Lazio	25	(4)
National team‡
1997–2008	Argentina	22	(3)
Honours Competitor for Argentina Men’s Football Silver 1996 Atlanta Team competition
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:44, 28 December 2009 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:21, 29 October 2008 (UTC)

Julio Ricardo Cruz (born 10 October 1974) is a former Argentine footballer.

Club career

Early career

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

Feyenoord

In 1997, he moved to Europe, being signed by Feyenoord, and showing a great potential in terms of scoring proficiency. He then moved in 2000 to Bologna.

Bologna

At Bologna, under the management of Francesco Guidolin, 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 7th-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.

Internazionale

In 2003, Cruz left Bologna and signed for Internazionale.

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 Stadium on 17 September 2003 in the Champions League. In a Champions League match against Porto on 1 November 2005, he scored twice in thirty 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 running out, but in February 2006, he extended his contract to the summer of 2008. He ended the season as the top scorer for Internazionale with 21 goals, including fifteen league 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.

Lazio

On 31 July 2009, Cruz left Internazionale and signed with Lazio on a two-year contract as free agent, but also paid €2.15 million sign-on fees. At the end of 2009–10 season, Lazio mutually terminated the contract, as Cruz was suffering from injury. Lazio was his last club.

International career

Cruz has twenty two caps and four goals for Argentina. He participated in the 2006 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 against Germany, but Argentina lost 4–2 on penalties.

Nickname

Cruz's nickname, El Jardinero (Spanish for "the gardener"), was given to him at an early age. 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.

Career statistics

Club Performance

Club	Season	Domestic League		Domestic Cups		European games		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
	Total	64	16	—	—	—	—	64	16
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
	1999–2000	30	15	—	—	8	3	38	18
	2000–01	—	—	—	—	1	0	1	0
	Total	86	44	—	—	17	6	103	50
Bologna	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
Internazionale	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	28	13	3	4	6	2	38	19
	2008–09	17	2	1	0	5	1	23	3
	Total	125	49	25	13	39	13	190	75
Lazio	2009–10	25	4	—	—	4	—	29	4
	Total	25	4	0	0	4	0	29	4
Career Totals		417	153	29	15	62	20	513	189
Updated 23 May 2010

National team statistics

Argentina national team
Year	Apps	Goals
1997	5	0
1998	0	0
1999	2	1
2000	1	0
2001	4	0
2002	1	1
2003	0	0
2004	0	0
2005	2	1
2006	2	0
2007	0	0
2008	5	0
Total	22	3

Honours

River Plate

• Argentine Primera: 1

1996

• Argentine Primera: 1

1997

Feyenoord

• Eredivisie: 1

1999

• Johan Cruijff-schaal: 1

1999

Internazionale

• Serie A: 4

2006, 2007, 2008, 2009

• Coppa Italia: 2

2005, 2006

• Supercoppa Italiana: 3

2005, 2006, 2008

Lazio

• Supercoppa Italiana: 1

2009

External links

• FootballDatabase provides Julio Cruz's profile and stats
• Statistics at Guardian Stats Centre
• Career details at National Football Teams