Julio Ricardo Cruz
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Julio Ricardo Cruz | ||
| Date of birth | 10 October 1974 | ||
| Place of birth | Santiago del Estero, Argentina | ||
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||
| 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. |
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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 America and the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
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.
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.
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.
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