Allan Enzo Cruz Leal (born 24 February 1996) is a Costa Rican professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for the Costa Rica national team.

Club career

Uruguay de Coronado

Born in

Nicoya Nicoya is a Districts of Costa Rica, district and head city of the Nicoya (canton), Nicoya canton, in the Guanacaste Province, Guanacaste province of Costa Rica, located on the Nicoya Peninsula. It is one of the country's most important tourism, ...

, in the province of Guanacaste, Cruz began his career with then

Primera División Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

club Uruguay de Coronado. On 29 August 2015, Cruz made his professional debut for the club in their 2–0 victory against

Saprissa Deportivo Saprissa is a Costa Rican sports club, mostly known for its football team. The club is based in San Juan de Tibás, San José, and play their home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá. The team's signature colours are purple ...

. Prior to his debut, Cruz spent a short period on loan with Generación Saprissa. On 7 November, Cruz scored his first competitive goal for Uruguay de Coronado in the 11th minute of a 2–1 defeat against

Santos de Guápiles Santos may refer to: People *Santos (surname) *Santos (DJ) (born 1971), Italian DJ * Santos Benavides (1823–1891), Confederate general in the American Civil War * Santos Balmori Picazo (1899–1992), Spanish-Mexican painter * Santos (footballer ...

Herediano

Prior to the 2017–18 season, Cruz joined

Herediano Club Sport Herediano (), commonly known as Herediano and nicknamed El Team, is a Costa Rican multisport club based in Heredia, Heredia province. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Herediano is mostly known for its association ...

. He made his debut during the club's first game of the season on 29 July 2017 against Guadalupe. He was a starter as Herediano drew the match 0–0. His first goal for the side came on 20 January 2018 against

in a 1–0 home victory. He ended his first season with Herediano having played in 46 matches and scoring 3 goals. On 20 February 2018, Cruz made his

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

debut in Herediano's 2–2 draw against

Tigres UANL Club de Fútbol Tigres de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, simply known as Tigres UANL or Tigres, is a Mexican professional football club based in San Nicolás de los Garza, a city in the Monterrey metropolitan area, Nuevo León. Foun ...

. The next season, Cruz helped Herediano reach the final of the

CONCACAF League The CONCACAF League was an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF as its second-tier continental competition. It was announced on 8 May 2017. The competition uses a knockout cup format with each round having two leg ...

, scoring in the first leg of the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

against Honduran club

Motagua The Motagua River () is a river in Guatemala. It rises in the western highlands of Guatemala where it is also called Río Grande, and runs in an easterly direction to the Gulf of Honduras. The final few kilometres of the river form part of the ...

in a 2–0 victory. He then started the in the second leg on 1 November as Herediano lost 2–1 but won 3–2 on aggregate. In December 2018, Cruz helped Herediano win the 2018 Apertura. He started for the club in the second leg of the final against

as Herediano drew the match 2–2 and won on aggregate 5–4.

FC Cincinnati

On 18 January 2019, it was announced that Cruz had signed with

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

club

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati, commonly known as FC Cincinnati, is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club plays in the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The ...

prior to their inaugural season. He made his debut for the club on 10 March 2019, starting in their 1–1 away draw against

Atlanta United Atlanta United FC, commonly known as Atlanta United, is an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. Founded in 2014, Atlanta United began pl ...

. Cruz then scored his first goal for FC Cincinnati in their next match against the

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at P ...

. His 61st-minute goal was the second in a 3–0 victory at

Nippert Stadium James Gamble Nippert Memorial Stadium is an outdoor stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, on the campus of the University of Cincinnati. Primarily used for American football, it is the home field of the Cincinnati Bearcats football team. The stadium has ...

. Cruz ended his first season with FC Cincinnati with 7 goals in 22 matches. On 1 March 2020, Cruz scored FC Cincinnati's first goal of the 2020 season against the

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

, however the club lost the match 3–2. On October 24, 2022, it was announced that Cruz was departing FC Cincinnati following the end of the 2022 season.

International career

In September 2018, Cruz was called into the

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

squad which would take on

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in international friendlies. He started for Costa Rica as they lost 2–0 on 7 September 2018. On 20 November 2018, Cruz scored his first ever goal for his country in their 3–2 victory over

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

at the

Estadio de la UNSA Estadio de la UNSA (official name) is a multi-purpose stadium located in Arequipa, Peru. The stadium was built by the University of San Agustín in the early 1990s and named after the Virgin Chapi. Due to its size, the term ''Monumental'' is adde ...

. On 5 June 2019, Cruz was included in

Gustavo Matosas Gustavo Cristian Matosas Paidón (born 25 May 1967) is an Argentine-born Uruguayan former professional footballer. Playing career Club The son of former footballer Roberto Matosas, Gustavo was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1967, as his f ...

' squad for the

2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 15th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. The tournament was primarily hosted in th ...

. He scored Costa Rica's third goal in their opening 3–0 victory against

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Herediano *

: 2018 Apertura *

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

References

External links

Profile
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Allan 1996 births Living people People from Guanacaste Province Costa Rican footballers Men's association football midfielders C.S. Herediano footballers FC Cincinnati players Major League Soccer players Costa Rica men's international footballers Designated Players (MLS) Expatriate soccer players in the United States Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in the United States 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup players