Julio "El Jardinero" Cruz

Legend or just a good player?


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Balor

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I look back now with more fondness for Cruz than when he was here playing and he did indeed do well for us. But he's definitely not LGI.
 

Guney

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no idea why he shouldn't be in LGI. Was always good in the big games when our 'killers' were choking like Ibra, was never a starter but never complained.
 
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Balor

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no idea why he shouldn't be in LGI. Was always good in the big games when our 'killers' were choking like Ibra, was never a starter but never complained.

I say this with no disrespect to the player, as I mentioned above he did well for Inter, but that's it, he did well. Look at the players in LGI and the compare Cruz to them, he just doesn't stack up. He's not a player who spent one or two decades with us. He's not a player who was one of, if not the best player in the world in his position. He wasn't one of the players who landed the treble. He was just a good striker that we had on the bench that was always probably the third best striker at the club with maybe two very good reasons out the the six he spent here.

There's better players than him who performed better for the club that aren't in LGI either.
 

Sassuolu

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Yeah he was decisive in two Scudetto wins, I think he deserves it.
 

dax21

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Man, all these recent goal compilations have been a major nostalgia trip for me.
 

Bob Sacamano

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MILAN - During six seasons with Inter, he captured the hearts and minds of Nerazzurri fans through his goals – often scored in the last few minutes and proving to be decisive. He netted 75 goals in 195 appearances, including an unforgettable brace against Juventus and also three goals in three consecutive derbies. As a Nerazzurri talisman, Julio Ricardo Cruz secured four Scudetti, three Coppa Italia trophies and two Supercoppa Italiana titles.

El Jardinero will now return to the Meazza on Wednesday evening to be honoured by Inter Forever during the pre-match build-up for Inter vs. Napoli!
 

Ziyad

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Wish we had someone like him. Absolute clutch and class. No ego, no problems, only action on the pitch.
 

Wallace

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When you had the likes of Adriano, Crespo, Ibrahimovic, Recoba in front of you, I'm not sure how you can act with all big egos and shit.

What I am saying is, his environment didn't leave him much choice or room to act like an asshole.

Although he is a classy dude, so kudos.
 

Bob Sacamano

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:heart::heart::heart:

386557-900.jpg
 

firmino

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When you had the likes of Adriano, Crespo, Ibrahimovic, Recoba in front of you, I'm not sure how you can act with all big egos and shit.

What I am saying is, his environment didn't leave him much choice or room to act like an asshole.

Although he is a classy dude, so kudos.

assholes always find room for that.
 

Wallace

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assholes always find room for that.

They probably do, but they wouldnt have lasted a second longer in a club with that forward line, not as long as Cruz lasted anyway.
 

DARi0

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Ex-Inter Striker Julio Cruz: “I Hope Lautaro Martinez Doesn’t Leave For Barcelona”


Former Inter forward Julio Cruz spoke about his career and time with Inter in an interview with Italian broadcaster Sky Sports Italia earlier today.

First, he spoke about his favourite memories of Italy. “There are many great memories, every time I talk to my friends there in Italy I get so nostalgic. Seeing what’s happening right now in Italy, like in Argentina, is very hard. It’s a difficult period that will change the world for a long time.” The 45-year-old then spoke about his son, who is also a football player. “My son, yes, he’s a center forward. I’d like him to go to Bologna one day, but also to Inter, but he’s still young. Several Italian teams have spoken to me because they’ve seen him, but it’s still early yet.”

Cruz spoke about his memories of Bologna and how it helped him settle in Italy. “Bologna was my gateway to arriving in Italy, a fantastic and beautiful city. I was coming from Holland, which is a younger country and when I looked around, I thought: ‘What is this? It’s all old’. I didn’t know the history of Italy but everything was beautiful.”

He then touched on his memories of training and his relationship with the club’s fans. “I remember when I arrived at my first training session and meeting people like Signori and Guidolin who were waiting for me, which was exciting. When we went into the training camp it was ten, fifteen minutes before we got to the stadium, I could see all the people with flags next to the bus and then on the pitch it was something else, even more beautiful. At the start it was difficult, like it is for all footballers when you arrive in Italy, a very difficult league. I remember Oreste Cinquini, who took me to Bologna and introduced me to Gazzoni, whose death today made me very sad, the death of such a good person who did so much for Bologna was very sad. He was an excellent president. ”

Cruz discussed which of his goals against rivals Juventus was his favourite. “I think what I felt the most was the penalty at the Delle Alpi, my first goal with Inter. Nobody expected me to shoot like that but I did it because I knew that the fans wanted to win so much that week, we hadn’t won in Turin for 11 years. Even if I’ve scored more, that was the best one.” The former Inter forward highlighted how important it was for him to play alongside so many other Argentinian players, like Javier Zanetti. “For the language a lot, there are many things it’s nice to remember today. Many people criticized Moratti because they said there were too many Argentinians and South Americans in the squad who had never won anything. The truth is that when we started winning, and with Mancini we did a great job, he was very proud of what we did. We were nine, ten Argentinians, the only Italian was Toldo and almost all of the squad were South Americans.”

Cruz spoke about Inter forward Lautaro Martinez and who he would replace the player with if the 22-year-old is sold to Barcelona in the summer. “I believe and hope Lautaro won’t go, I hope so because he’s a great player and he’s proving it. I would be disappointed if he went somewhere else and Inter are a great club and they are able to keep him. If he were to leave it would be his choice but to date, I haven’t seen another player who can support Lukaku like him because he’s really a great player.”

He discussed whether it was more difficult to imagine Lionel Messi joining Inter or Lautaro Martinez joining Barcelona.
“Looking at the whole situation it seems more difficult for Messi to leave Barcelona. He arrived there when he was 13-14, I don’t think he can or wants to leave after everything he’s done and built there. But I hope that Lautaro won’t leave Inter either.” Cruz discussed how Lautaro will be important for the Argentinian national team in the future. “Yes, he’s very young. Aguero and Higuain are all grown up and I hope that in the next few years he will be the center forward for the National Team.”

The former Nerazzurri forward touched on how it is difficult for Juventus forward Paulo Dybala to break into the Argentina squad. “The truth is that Messi is the best, the number one in the world and it’s difficult for them to play together. But sooner or later Messi will leave the national team. I think it’s very difficult to see Dybala on the national team while Messi is there.”

He spoke about his favourite attacking partner during his time with Inter. “My favourite attacking partner was Ibrahimovic. I had a good time with Crespo too, but with Ibra we were physically similar and we worked together great, in fact it was a year in which we scored a lot. I also felt very good with Chino.”

Cruz touched on the 2006 World Cup and Italy’s triumph at the tournament.“In that period after Calciopoli nobody thought that Italy could make it to the final and win, despite the number of excellent players. Lippi was great and had great players but I thought that’s what football is, sometimes you don’t realise something before you see it and that year Italy did a great job.”

He spoke about his former teammate Esteban Cambiasso. “Together with my wife, when some other South Americans came, we tried to help them adapt. Esteban was one of these guys, a big hug to him and his family.”

Finally, Cruz spoke about how he doesn’t regret leaving Inter the summer before they won the Treble. “I’ve always said, you always make choices and I always told Massimo Moratti, who wanted me to stay, that I didn’t feel like it. I didn’t feel like I was part of that team anymore, the Mourinho team. He told me he wanted me but I didn’t feel it anymore. I was very happy with what they won, the great work they did and that beautiful Treble that everyone had been waiting for so long. But this is life and I don’t regret anything. I have had an easy time playing football and experienced great things wherever I went.”
 

DARi0

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El Jardinero: “I believe Inter can come back In Serie A & Joaquin Correa can be decisive”​

Ex-Nerazzurri Striker Julio Cruz: “I Believe Inter Can Come Back In Serie A & Joaquin Correa Can Be Decisive”

Former Nerazzurri striker Julio Cruz has not doubt that Inter are capable of making up the gap at the top and winning Serie A over their remaining matches this season.

Speaking to Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, he expressed his faith that his old team can come back in the run-in of the season and named Joaquin Correa as a player who can make the difference.

Inter go into the final decisive run-in of the season six points back from AC Milan and three behind Napoli, albeit with a crucial game in hand on both rivals.

The Nerazzurri’s fate is not technically in their own hands, but they will feel that if they can produce their best form over the remaining matches of the campaign they can overtake the teams ahead of them.

An extra push from a player to give the team something a bit different could be what’s necessary to push Inter over the line, and Cruz believes that it could be Correa who has his say in the nine matches to come.

“I’m convinced that in the end Inter will be able to win,” he said, “considering they have a game in hand, in my opinion they’ll be able to recover and get back on track from the recent period which has been below par.”

“But with nine games to be played there’s still time to get back on track,” he went on predicting that “they’ll reach the top.”

Cruz went on that “I like to think that the decisive player could be Tucu Correa. He’s a striker who’s different from all the others in the team, the only one capable of dribbling past his man and creating an advantage.”
“It will be a fight to the end but I hope that in the end the Nerazzurri will win,” he concluded.
Hope our talisman against merda is right.
 

William

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I’d trade Martinez, correa and dzeko for a chance at having someone clinical like Cruz back in the team.
 
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