Julio Ricardo Cruz

Football player infobox
playername = Julio Cruz


fullname = Julio Ricardo Cruz
nickname = "El Jardinero" (The Gardener)
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1974|10|10
cityofbirth = Santiago del Estero
countryofbirth = Argentina
height = height|meter=1.90
currentclub = Internazionale
clubnumber = 9
position = Striker
youthyears =
youthclubs = Banfield
years = 1993–1996
1996–1997
1997–2000
2000–2003
2003–
clubs = Banfield
River Plate
Feyenoord
Bologna
Internazionale
caps(goals) = 065 (16)
029 (17)
086 (44)
088 (27)
113 (49)
nationalyears = 1997–
nationalteam = Argentina
nationalcaps(goals) = 018 0(3)
ntupdate = 22:57, 1 June 2008 (UTC)
pcupdate = May 23 2008

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

Club career

A physical and tall forward at height|meter=1.91, 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. 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. [cite news
title = JULIO CRUZ JOINS INTER
url = http://www.inter.it/aas/news/reader?L=en&N=10148
publisher = Internazionale
date = 2003-08-30] 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 Inter winning 2-1, and in the reverse fixture scored a free kick that got a goal back for inter against milan at the score 2-1, but inter were unable to capitalize.

In the winter of 2005, rumours linked him to Roma and other clubs because his contract was running out, butin February 2006 the contract was extended to the summer of 2008, ending the rumours. [cite news
title = CRUZ EXTENDS INTER STAY UNTIL 2008
url = http://www.inter.it/aas/news/reader?L=en&N=21936
publisher = Internazionale
date = 2006-02-20] 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. He again scored in the Milan derby in December 2007 with the equalizer, Inter went on to win the game 2-1. On the 24 September he again scored for Inter Milan against Lecce which Inter won 1-0, ending speculation Jose Mourinho didn't want him.

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 semi finals.

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.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

* River Plate
** Argentine Primera Apertura 1996
** Argentine Primera: Clausura 1997
* Feyenoord
** Eredivisie: 1999
** Johan Cruijff-schaal: 1999
* Internazionale
** Serie A: 2005-2006, 2006-2007,2007-08.
** Coppa Italia: 2005, 2006
** Italian Super Cup: 2005, 2006, 2008

References

External links

* [http://www.footballdatabase.com/site/players/index.php?dumpPlayer=957 FootballDatabase provides Julio Cruz's profile and stats]
* [http://touchline.onthespot.co.uk/guardian/StatsCentre.asp?Lang=0&CTID=13&CPID=19&pStr=Player&PLID=9655&TEID=41 Statistics] at Guardian Stats Centre
* [http://www.national-football-teams.com/v2/player.php?id=303 Career details] at National Football Teams
* [http://it.geocities.com/julio_cruz_inter The JULIO CRUZ's Un Official Site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/juliocruzfansclub MySpace profile unofficial of Julio Cruz]