Alianza Lima Born in
Lima, Cruzado came up through the youth ranks of Academia Tito Drago. In 2002, he joined
Alianza Lima. Later in the
2002 season he made his
Peruvian Primera División debut for Alianza Lima, which was his only appearance that year. He eventually established himself as an important player for Alianza and together with a young
Jefferson Farfán went on to claim the
2003 Peruvian Primera División League title. Again in the 2004 season he helped Alianza win the
2004 Peruvian League title. He made his
Copa Libertadores debut on 11 February 2004 in a group stage match against
São Paulo FC, which finished in a 2–1 loss for Alianza. He played in all of the group stage matches in the
2004 Copa Libertadores. However, Alianza were eliminated in that stage as they only managed to finish in third place. In the
2005 season, he played 35 games and scored 1 goal, but with the departure of key players like Jefferson Farfán and
Walter Vilchez Alianza finished in 7th place in the overall standings. The next season Cruzado made the most appearances for Alianza in all his time there, with 42 games played and 3 goals scored. That year in the
2006 season he formed a strong partnership in midfield with
Marko Ciurlizza and won his third Peruvian League title with Alianza. Cruzado played an important role in the
final two-legged tie that determined the champions of the 2006 season. The first leg was won by
Cienciano 1–0 in
Cusco. In the second leg, Cruzado helped Alianza turn the tie around and defeat Cienciano 3–1 in
Matute, with the winning goal being scored by teammate
Flavio Maestri.
Grasshopper Club Zürich In January 2007, he left Alianza and transferred to Swiss team
Grasshopper Club Zürich. He made his Swiss League debut on 10 February 2007 in a goal-less draw against
FC Zürich.. He scored his first goal in a 2–0 win against
Neuchâtel Xamax on 23 February 2008. His second goal was against
FC Sion also in a 2–0 win, on 10 May 2008.
Sporting Cristal In August 2008, Cruzado left Grasshoppers and joined
Sporting Cristal for the end of the
2008 Peruvian Primera División. He helped Cristal finish the season in second place in the overall standings.
Esteghlal FC Cruzaldo played for
Sporting Cristal until January 2009 when he joined
Esteghlal in Iran which is one of the most popular
football teams in Asia. The details of his transfer to this famous Iranian football club had not been revealed until the very last minutes. He was expected to play in the
AFC Champions League 2009. He had a very serious injury during his first season which he just played few minuted for the club, but in his second season he was available for more matches and became one of the regular starting players. He left Iran seeking to return to a Peruvian club, possibly
Alianza Lima, in 2010.
Club Juan Aurich On 15 July 2010, Cruzado joined Peruvian club
Juan Aurich in the middle of the
2010 Torneo Descentralizado season. His choice to return to Peru was mainly due to his desire to be called up by new coach
Sergio Markarián to the
Peru national team. Cruzado made his official debut for Juan Aurich on 21 August 2010 in a league match away to
José Gálvez FBC. The manager
Juan Reynoso put Rinaldo in the 79th minute to secure the 1–0 victory. The following match he made his home debut at the
Estadio Elías Aguirre against
Colegio Nacional Iquitos, which he played the entire match as it finished in a 1–1 draw. Cruzado quickly won a starting role in the center of midfield and managed to play in all but one of the remaining matches of the
2010 Descentralizado season. He played his last match of the season at home against
Cusco club
Cienciano. He received a red card in the 73rd minute as did his teammate
Juan Carlos La Rosa in 46th minute, and eventually the match finished in a 3–2 win for Cienciano. Juan Aurich finished the season in 6th place in the
Aggregate table. Cruzado started the
2011 Torneo Descentralizado season in Round 2 at home against
Unión Comercio. In this match Rinaldo scored his first official goal for Juan Aurich in the 73rd minute, which helped his side win 3–2 over Unión Comercio. Away to the defending champions
Universidad San Martin, Cruzado won a penalty that was converted by teammate
Luis Tejada to salvage a 1–1 draw in third round. Rinaldo was on the score sheet again by scoring the winning goal from outside the area with a powerful left-footed shot in the 2–0 home win against
León de Huánuco, the Runners-up of the league the previous season. Away to the
Miguel Grau Stadium, Cruzado then helped his club earn three important points in the 5–0 thrashing of
Sport Boys by scoring the third goal of the night. As a regular starter he continued to help Juan Aurich make a bid for the title that season. In Round 9 against direct competitors
Alianza Lima, Cruzado helped Juan Aurich defeat his former club 2–0, and two rounds later Juan Aurich won another three valuable points with a 2–1 home win against his other former club
Sporting Cristal. Cruzado scored his last goal for Juan Aurich in Round 12 in the 2–1 loss away to Cienciano. His last appearance for the
Chiclayo based club was in Round 15 at home against
Universidad César Vallejo, which he played the entire match and finished in a 2–0 win for his side. At this midpoint stage of the season Juan Aurich was in third place behind Alianza Lima and Cienciano. Juan Aurich would eventually go on to win the title that season for the first time in the club's history. Cruzado was called up to participate in the Copa América, and during this time journalist Daniel Peredo first announced the news that Cruzado would join Italian club
ChievoVerona after the summer tournament.
Chievo On 5 August 2011, Cruzado left Juan Aurich and transferred to
Serie A club ChievoVerona for the start of the
2011–2012 season. He signed a three-year contract and chose to wear the number eight shirt as reported by Chievo's official website.{{cite web |url = http://www.chievoverona.it/it/news/rinaldo-cruzado-da-oggi-%C3%A8-ufficialmente-giallobl%C3%B9 |title = Rinaldo Cruzado da oggi è ufficialmente gialloblù |accessdate =5 August 2011 |date = 5 August 2011 |language = Italian|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316075855/http://www.chievoverona.it/it/news/rinaldo-cruzado-da-oggi-%C3%A8-ufficialmente-giallobl%C3%B9 |archivedate=16 March 2012 == International career ==