Early career A tall, physical striker at , 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. 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.
Inter Milan In 2003, Cruz left Bologna to sign for
Inter Milan. 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. 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. He continued with his good form, notably scoring a crucial double against
Juventus in a 3–1 away win. 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. 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. 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.
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. 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. 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. 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. ==International career==