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 35)
Place of birth Santiago del Estero, Argentina
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current club Lazio
Number 74
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– Lazio 4 (3)
National team‡
1997–2008 Argentina 22 (4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:44, 12 April 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 in Santiago del Estero) is an Argentine footballer who currently plays for Lazio in the Italian Serie A.

Contents

[edit] Club career

A tall, physical forward at 1.97 m (6 ft 5+1⁄2 in), Cruz started his football career with Banfield in 1993. He moved to Argentine 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. 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. In a Champions League match against FC Porto on 1 November 2005, he scored twice in thirty minutes after being sent in to replace striker Adriano, turning a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 victory.

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.[2] 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 that Inter won 3-1 against Roma. On 31 July 2009 Cruz left after six years with Inter Milan and signed with Serie A side Lazio on a one year contract.[3]

[edit] International career

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

Cruz has twenty two caps and four goals for Argentina. He participated 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 to the semi finals

[edit] 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 Club Atlético Banfield in 1993 when he was summoned by coach 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.

[edit] Career statistics

Club Performance[4][5]
Club Season Domestic League Domestic Cups European games[6] Total
App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals
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
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 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 13 2 5 1 - - 18 3
Total 125 49 25 13 39 13 190 75
Lazio 2009–10 - - - - - - - -
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Career Totals 393 153 29 15 62 20 485 189
Updated 12 April 2009

[edit] Honours

[edit] River Plate

[edit] Feyenoord

[edit] Internazionale

[edit] Lazio

[edit] International

[edit] References

  1. ^ "JULIO CRUZ JOINS INTER". Internazionale. 2003-08-30. http://www.inter.it/aas/news/reader?L=en&N=10148. 
  2. ^ "CRUZ EXTENDS INTER STAY UNTIL 2008". Internazionale. 2006-02-20. http://www.inter.it/aas/news/reader?L=en&N=21936. 
  3. ^ Julio Cruz zu Lazio
  4. ^ "Julio Cruz". ESPNsoccernet. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/stats?id=11803&cc=5739. Retrieved 2007-12-03. 
  5. ^ "Julio Ricardo Cruz profile". F.C. Internazionale Milano. http://www.inter.it/aas/squadra/player2?codgioc=G0762&STAG=2007/08. Retrieved 2007-12-16. 
  6. ^ Counts for appearances and goals at the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup and UEFA Intertoto Cup.

[edit] External links

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