MILAN – Nothing is certain in Santiago del Estero. They argue about everything in Argentina's oldest city, even the year when the city was founded, a great source of pride for the locals. There are some who claim it was 1553 and others who maintain the first settlement was actually three years earlier. Even today these disputes are ongoing after almost 500 years.
Into this climate of uncertainty, Julio Ricardo Cruz was born on 10 October 1974. The city's lack of authoritativeness on the facts even extends to his nickname, El Jardinero, which accompanied Cruz throughout his football career. No one knows for sure who was the first journalist to coin this moniker in Argentina: maybe it derives from a possible job as a gardener in Cruz's youth or perhaps it came from the personal care he'd take over the playing surface at Club Atletico Banfield near Buenos Aires, where he'd transferred as a youngster to pursue his dream. And while the backstory to his nickname will forever remain shrouded in mystery, the one thing we do know is that at Banfield Cruz became more than just a football player. He was an exemplary professional, a quality that his coach at Banfield Oscar Lopez demanded from every kid looking to pull on the historic shirt.
Lopez hammered him, inspired him and sometimes exhausted him. "He was the man who handed me my debut in the Argentinian top flight and in training forced me to play in every position apart from attack," Cruz revealed many years later in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport. "He thought that was the only way we'd learn to pull it out of the bag in tough moments and also to understand the difficulties our team-mates face elsewhere on the pitch."
It wasn't an easy period for El Jardinero, who was pushed out onto the wing and often played in defence as well. Nevertheless, during those years Cruz took on board the value of self-sacrifice and began to empathise with his team-mates, who back then included a certain full back called Javier Zanetti, his future captain at Inter.
Humility and simplicity, qualities that the lad from Santiago del Estero would appreciate again at River Plate a few years later, another club he was proud to represent. "I was able to admire Enzo Francescoli from up close," Cruz recalled. "He was a role model for my career, a real star who was also able to roll up his sleeves."
Cruz brought the lessons from Lopez and Francescoli with him on the next big step in his career when he moved to Europe. Feyenoord in the Netherlands were the first to welcome him and after three seasons he moved to Bologna in Italy, where he had an immediate impact. Often deployed as a sole striker, the hard work he put in for his team-mates and his convincing performances won over the crowd at the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara. He stayed at the Rossoblu for three years, before Inter came calling in 2003.
One of his early appearances for the Nerazzurri immediately earned him a place in the fans' hearts. Inter had failed to win away against Juventus in the league for ten years, but that November evening was unforgettable as Cruz helped Inter to a 3-1 victory, contributing with a pinpoint free kick and a goal on the counter. He couldn't have got off to a better start in Milan.
The big Argentine wasn't always in the starting line-up during his six-year spell at the club, but he always distinguished himself for his professionalism and dedication, both during the dark times and the glory years under Roberto Mancini. In particular, the Italian manager turned to him on the bench during the Derby di Milano in 2006/07. Cruz came on and promptly equalised within a few seconds and then crowned off a sublime substitute performance by setting up Zlatan Ibrahimovic for the winner.
That afternoon summed up Cruz as a player and what he meant to his team-mates: it doesn't matter if you're on the pitch for ten, 15 or 90 minutes; it's your ability to work hard for the others around you that makes the difference.
Among the many mysteries coming out of Santiago del Estero, El Jardinero offered one unwavering certainty: the Nerazzurri faithful could always rely on him.
Bruno Bottaro
Versión Española 日本語版 Versi Bahasa Indonesia 中文版 Versione Italiana
