Julio Cruz

Julio Ricardo Cruz was born in Santiago del Estero, in Northern Argentina, on October 10, 1974.

Source Lazio Wiki

He grew up in the Banfield youth set up. Banfield is a town just outside Buenos Aires. He then made his professional debut for "El Taladro" (The Drill) in 1993. He played three and a half seasons for Banfield, playing 65 league games and scoring 16 goals.

In July 1996 he moved to Buenos Aires and joined River Plate. He stayed one season with "Los Millionarios" and won an Apertura in 1996 and a Clausura in 1997. He played 29 league games with 17 goals, 5 in Copa Libertadores with 1 goal plus the Intercontinental Cup (lost to Juventus 0-1 to an Alessandro Del Piero goal).

In 1997 he came to Europe and joined Feyenoord in the Eredivisie. He stayed three seasons, playing 86 league games with 44 goals, 8 in the Dutch Cup with 2 goals, 17 in Europe with 6 goals and 1 in the Dutch Supercup. He won one league title (1999) and a Supercup (1999).

In 2000 he arrived in Italy when he signed for Bologna in Serie A. The manager was Francesco Guidolin and the Felsinei finished 10th. Cruz played 27 league games with 7 goals (Napoli, Fiorentina, Parma, Vicenza, Bari, Lecce x2) and 1 game in Coppa Italia.

He stayed two more seasons in Bologna, still with Guidolin as manager. The Rossoblu finished 7th and 11th. Cruz played another 61 league games with 20 goals (Parma, Lazio, Chievo, Udinese, Verona, Milan, Fiorentina, Lecce, Roma, Torino, Roma x2, Brescia x2, Perugia, Modena, Parma x2, Inter, Juventus), 4 games in Coppa Italia with 2 goals (Empoli x2) and 6 games in the Intertoto Cup with 1 goal (Bate Borisov). In his time in Bologna "la grassa" he played alongside Lazio connections, Beppe Signori (1992-97), Fabio Firmani (2005-09, 2009-11) and Mourad Meghni (2007-11).

In 2003 he joined Inter where he would remain for six seasons.

In his first year the manager was Hector Cuper (1-6) and then Alberto Zaccheroni and the Nerazzurri finished 4th (Champions League). Cruz played 21 league games with 7 goals (Brescia, Ancona, Reggina, Juventus x2, Lecce, Udinese), 4 in Coppa Italia with 3 goals (Reggina x2, Udinese) and 6 in the Champions League with 1 goal (Arsenal). He was not always a regular as Inter had Christian Vieri, Alvaro Recoba, Adriano and Obafemi Martins in the squad.

In 2004-05 Roberto Mancini arrived as manager from Lazio. Inter finished 3rd (Champions League), won the Coppa Italia (Roma 3-0 on aggregate) and reached the quarter finals of Champions League (Milan 0-5 on aggregate). Cruz played 18 league games with 5 goals (Lazio, Bologna, Juventus, Messina, Siena), 6 games in Coppa Italia with 2 goals (Bologna, Atalanta) and 8 games in Champions with 2 goals (Valencia, Anderlecht).

In 2005-06 Mancini stayed but Vieri left and Cruz played more, 31 league games with 15 goals (Palermo x2, Lecce, Livorno, Udinese, Empoli, Treviso, Chievo, Udinese x2, Ascoli, Reggina x2, Siena, Cagliari), 8 games in Coppa Italia with 2 goals (Roma home and away in final) and 7 games in Champions League with 4 goals (Artmedia Bratislava, Porto x2, AJax). The Nerazzurri won the domestic treble, Scudetto, Coppa Italia and Supercoppa.

In 2006-07 Inter won the Scudetto and the Supercoppa. Inter had signed Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Hernan Crespo and still had Adriano and Recoba, so Cruz played less. He made 15 league appearances with 7 goals (Livorno, Parma, Catania, Livorno, Milan, Palermo, Empoli), 4 in Coppa Italia with 2 goals (Messina, Roma) and 4 in Champions League with 3 goals (Spartak Moscow x2 at home and one away).

The 2007-08 season saw Inter win their 3rd consecutive Scudetto under Mancini. Cruz played 28 league games with 13 goals (Roma, Napoli x2, Genoa, Juventus, Atalanta, Fiorentina, Torino, Cagliari, Milan, Torino, Cagliari, Milan), 3 games in Coppa Italia with 4 goals (Juventus x3, Lazio) and 6 games in Champions League with 2 goals (Fenerbahçe, PSV Eindhoven) plus the Italian Supercoppa.

The 2008-09 season would be his last with Inter. José Mourinho arrived as new manager and the Nerazzurri won the Scudetto and the Supercoppa. Cruz played 17 league games with 2 goals (Lecce, Udinese), 1 game in Coppa Italia and 5 in Champions League with 1 goal (Anorthosis). After 197 games he then left Inter. In his six seasons he had played alongside many Lazio connections: Dejan Stankovic (1998-2004), Christian Vieri (1998-99), Matias Almeyda (1997-2000), Sinisa Mihajlovic (1998-2004), Beppe Favalli (1992-2004), Juan Sebastian Veron (1999-2001), César (2001-06), Hernan Crespo (2000-2002) and Luís Jimenez (2007).

In the summer of 2009 Cruz joined Lazio. The Biancocelesti had a new manager Davide Ballardini, who had taken over from Delio Rossi. Lazio had won the Coppa Italia the previous season so played the Supercoppa final against Inter in August. The game took place in China and Lazio surprisingly triumphed 2-1. The rest of the season did not go as well. Ballardini was sacked in February and replaced by Edy Reja. Lazio struggled but avoided relegation. Cruz played 25 league games with 4 goals (Chievo x2, Catania, Siena), 4 in the Europa League plus the Supercoppa against his former club. His season was hampered by several injuries and at the end he decided to retire.

At international level he earned 22 caps for Argentina with 3 goals (Mexico, Wales and Qatar). He took part in a Copa America (1997) and a World Cup (2006).

Cruz was a centre-forward, nicknamed "El Jardinero" (The Gardener). At 1.90 and 78 kilos his main ability was in headers. He was however a good all-round player and moved well for his height. He was technical, good at freekicks but above all scored goals, 198 in his career. He won 2 Argentinian league titles, 1 in Holland plus a Supercup, 4 Italian league titles, the Coppa Italia twice and the Italian Supercoppa 4 times. He scored 80 goals in Serie A (8 against Juve)

At Lazio he arrived late in his career, at 35. He was not the success one had hoped, not helped by Lazio's poor season and a series of injuries. He did however lift another trophy, the Supercoppa in Beijing playing the last tense twenty minutes.

Since retiring he has run for Mayor in Lomas de Zamora in the Buenos Aires province. He owns a Fazenda (Hacienda-large farm) to spend his retirement. His son Juan Manuel is also a professional footballer who started with Banfield and now plays for Verona.

Lazio Career

Season	Total appearances (goals)	Serie A	Europa League	Super Coppa
2009-10	30 (4)	25 (4)	4	1

Sources

Wikipedia