Francisco Javier Cruz

This article covers the Mexican national soccer player born in 1966. For the Mexican soccer player of the same name, born in 1967, see Francisco Javier Cruz (Soccer Player, 1967)

Francisco Cruz
Personnel
Surname	Francisco Javier Cruz Jiménez
birthday	May 24, 1966
place of birth	Cedral ,  Mexico
size	171 cm
position	midfield
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1983-1988	CF Monterrey	117 (37)
1988-1989	CD Logroñés	23 0(1)
1989-1992	CF Monterrey	67 (13)
1992-1995	UANL Tigres	48 0(9)
1995-1996	CF Atlante	23 0(1)
1996-1998	UANL Tigres	10 0(0)
1999	CF Monterrey	5 0(1)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1986-1993	Mexico	19 0(3)
1 Only league games are given.

Francisco Javier Cruz Jiménez (born May 24, 1966 in Cedral , San Luis Potosí ), also known by the nickname El Abuelo (the grandfather) is a former Mexican football player who was used in defense or in midfield .

biography

society

El Abuelo Cruz began his professional career in 1983 at CF Monterrey , for whom he was under contract until 1988 and where he had his longest club station in a row with the most appearances (117) and goals (37). He then made the leap across the Atlantic and played in the 1988/89 season for the CD Logroñés in the Spanish Primera División . In the following three seasons he was again under contract with CF Monterrey in the Mexican Primera División , before moving to Monterrey's arch-rivals Tigres de la UANL in 1992 , for whom he played for the next three years. In the 1995/96 season he was under contract with CF Atlante and then returned to the Tigres before he - possibly via one or the other detour - ended his active career in 1999 in the service of CF Monterrey.

National team

Between 1986 and 1993 Francisco Cruz completed a total of 19 international appearances for the Mexican national soccer team and scored three goals. The versatile player was active both on the offensive and on the defensive as required and always acted as a joker ; because he was the typical substitute who did not play any of his 19 full-distance internationals.

Both his first international match on April 27, 1986 and his last international match on May 9, 1993 were both played against Canada. While he was used for at least one half in the first game (3-0), his last use was limited to 17 minutes. In this game he was substituted on in the 69th minute and had to leave the field in the 86th minute. Still it was one of his most important internationals; because it took place as part of the qualification for the 1994 World Cup and he scored the winning goal in the 83rd minute to make it 2-1 for "el Tri".

The highlight of his international career was his participation in the 1986 World Cup , which was held in his own country , when he was substituted on in all three group matches against Belgium (2-1), Paraguay (1: 1) and Iraq (1-0) in the final quarter of an hour. While he was not included in the round of 16 against Bulgaria (2-0), he was used in the quarter-finals against Germany (1: 4 after penalties) from the 70th minute and thus for a total of 50 minutes.

successes

• Mexican champion : México 86 (with Monterrey)
• Cup winners : 1992 (with Monterrey)
• 2nd division champions : Invierno 1996, Verano 1997 (with UANL Tigres)

Web links

• Profile at the Mexican Football Association
• Francisco Javier Cruz in the database of National-Football-Teams.com (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ His exact stations between 1996 and 1998 are unclear. While he remained according to National Football Teams until mid-1998 with the Tigres, he played according to some other Wikipedia language versions in the 1997/98 season for CSKA Sofia and then for the US club San Antonio Pumas .