Francisco Javier Cruz Jiménez (born 24 May 1966) is a Mexican former 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 played for

Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...

and

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 ...

, becoming one of the few players to be successful in both professional teams from

. He is nicknamed ''El Abuelo'', which means "The Grandfather". He also played for a short time in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, for

CD Logroñés Club Deportivo Logroñés, S.A.D. was a Spanish football team based in Logroño, in the autonomous community of La Rioja. Founded in 1940, it last played in ''Regional Preferente de La Rioja''. Due to financial problems, since 2009 the club has ...

He scored many goals for both Rayados and Tigres, even in the

Clásico Regiomontano Clásico Regiomontano, Clásico Regio, Clásico del Norte or Clásico Norteño is a football derby in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, between crosstown rival teams Monterrey and Tigres. Since the first Clásico in 1974, the two teams have competed over 100 ...

, where he became an idol of the city. Because of this, he is loved by fans of both teams, a rarity in the competing atmosphere of Monterrey.

Early life

Born in

Cedral Cedral is a municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 millio ...

, Cruz moved to Monterrey at the age of 5. Cruz is the 8th youngest of 10 children. Although Cruz demonstrated a passion and skill for the sport, his dad discouraged him from pursuing a career in football.

Club career

C.F. Monterrey

He was instrumental in the conquest of the first championship for Rayados. Topscorer for that Mexico 86 tournament (tied with Sergio Lira from Tampico with 14 goals). He also served the assist to Sergio "Alvin" Perez's goal that kept the team from being relegated in May 1999.

Tigres UANL

He played with Tigres UANL for a while, where he scored many goals. He was instrumental in returning the team to the First Division after its privatization. In April 1998, he signed with the

San Antonio Pumas The San Antonio Pumas were an American soccer team founded in 1988 as the San Antonio Heat in the original indoor SISL league. They became the San Antonio Generals before the 1989/90 indoor season and then the San Antonio Pumas before the 1993 out ...

of the

USISL United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

.''All-new Pumas change everything'' San Antonio Express-News - Friday, April 3, 1998

International career

"El Abuelo" Cruz also played several games with

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, including the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia ha ...

quarterfinal against

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

in the Estadio Universitario of Monterrey. In extra time, he scored a goal that the referee annulled due to an offside ruling involving another player. The game ended on penalty kicks with Mexico eliminated. He missed the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

due to an injury which he suffered by scoring the goal that qualified Mexico into the competition. , - , 1. , , May 13, 1987 , ,

Toluca Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the States of Mexico, state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. With a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census, Toluca is the fifth most populous city in M ...

, , , , 6–0 , , Win , , Olympic Games Qualification , - , 2. , , February 10, 1993 , ,

, Mexico , , , , 2–0 , , Win , , Friendly , - , 3. , , May 9, 1993 , ,

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, , , , 2–1 , , Win , ,

1994 FIFA World Cup qualification The 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. The 1994 FIFA World Cup featured 24 teams with one place reserved for the host nation, United States, and one place for the defending champi ...

Retirement

He retired as a player on May 9, 1999. As of April 16, 2006. He tried to get a Team as a coach, but he never got to be one, He also started working with Tigres UANL, as a recruiter but he let that down also, According to a
interview
he aspires to coach a team in the

Liga de Ascenso Liga or LIGA may refer to: People * Līga (name), a Latvian female given name * Luciano Ligabue, more commonly known as Ligabue or ''Liga'', Italian rock singer-songwriter Sports * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Lig ...

Personal life

Cruz gave himself the nickname ''El Abuelo'' in his teenage years in honor of his late grandfather. In an interview, Cruz claimed to have fell into a depression following his retirement. His mental state worsened following the death of his mother due to a heart attack in 2004 and his father's death the year later. Shortly after the death of his parents, Cruz developed an eating disorder and reached a weight of 313 pounds. Cruz underwent

gastric bypass surgery Gastric bypass surgery refers to a technique in which the stomach is divided into a small upper pouch and a much larger lower "remnant" pouch and then the small intestine is rearranged to connect to both. Surgeons have developed several differ ...

after being diagnosed with high blood pressure and diabetes. Cruz has three daughters from a previous marriage.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Francisco 1966 births Living people Footballers from San Luis Potosí Association football forwards Mexico under-20 international footballers Mexico international footballers 1986 FIFA World Cup players C.F. Monterrey players CD Logroñés footballers Tigres UANL footballers Atlante F.C. footballers San Antonio Pumas players Liga MX players La Liga players USISL players Mexican expatriate footballers Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Spain Mexican expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States Mexican footballers