Early career

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.

Feyenoord

In 1997, Cruz moved to Europe to join Dutch club Feyenoord. In the 1998–99 season, he helped them to the Eredivisie title, scoring fifteen goals.^[4] In 2000, he joined Bologna in Italy.

Bologna

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 earned back the respect of his critics for his intelligent and passionate football.^[5]

Internazionale

In 2003, Cruz left Bologna to sign for Internazionale.^[6] He was allocated squad number 9 and made his Inter debut on 14 September 2003 in the 1–0 away win against Siena, playing the full 90 minutes.^[7] Three days later, he scored his first Inter goal in the 3–0 victory over Arsenal at Highbury on 17 September 2003 in the UEFA Champions League.^[8] He continued with his good form, notably scoring a crucial double against Juventus in a 3–1 away win.^[9]

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, he scored 12 league goals in his first two seasons with Inter. In a Champions League match against Porto on 1 November 2005, he scored twice in 30 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 set to expire; however, in February 2006, he extended his contract to the summer of 2008.^[10] On 8 April 2006, Cruz received his first ever red card during the league match against Ascoli for dissent after sarcastically applauding referee Stefano Farina.^[11]

Cruz ended the season as Inter's top scorer with 21 goals, including 15 Serie A 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.^[12]

Lazio

On 31 July 2009, Cruz left Inter and signed with Lazio on a two-year contract as free agent, but also paid €2.15 million sign-on fees to Van Dijk B.V.; Lazio was later fined by the FIGC due to third parties ownership and unlicensed agent Dennis Anthonius Johannes Maria Sickman.^[13][14]

Cruz made his Lazio debut on 8 August in the 2009 Supercoppa Italiana against Inter, appearing as a 72nd-minute substitute in an eventual 2–1 win at Beijing National Stadium, China, winning his first trophy in Lazio colours.^[15] He played his first match as a starter 12 days later, a match which brought his European debut with Lazio as well, playing the full 90 minutes in a 3–0 home win against IF Elfsborg for the first leg of play-off round of 2009–10 UEFA Europa League.^[16]

At the end of 2009–10 season, Cruz's contract with Lazio was mutually terminated, as he was suffering from injury. He announced his retirement from football on 7 September 2010, declining offers from Napoli and Grosseto.^[17]

Club

Sources:^{[23][24][25][26]}

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year^[18]

International goals

Scores and results list Argentina's goal tally first.^[18]

More information #, Date ...

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	9 June 1999	Soldier Field, Chicago, United States	Mexico	2–1	2–2	Friendly
2.	13 February 2002	Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff, Wales	Wales	1–1	1–1	Friendly
3.	16 November 2005	Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar	Qatar	0–2	0–3	Friendly

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