Mauricio Antonio Cruz Jiron (born 11 March 1957) is a former

Nicaraguan 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 countr ...

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 currently coaches CD Walter Ferretti in the Primera División de Nicaragua.

Club career

During his career he played for

Diriangén Diriangén was a native Nicaraguan king who controlled land from Diriamba in Carazo to the Ochomogo river in Rivas, outside the boundaries of Nicarao's kingdom. It is possible that Diriangen belonged to the Chorotega s/small> people. Etym ...

and Honduran outfit Universidad.

International career

Cruz made his debut for Nicaragua in the 1970s and represented his country in 2

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

matches, both in 1992 versus

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

. Cruz represented Nicaragua at the

1975 Pan American Games The 1975 Pan American Games were held in Mexico City, Mexico, from October 12 to October 26, 1975, exactly twenty years after the second Pan American Games were held there. It was the third major sporting event held in the Mexican capital in seve ...

. His final international was a July 1992

match against El Salvador.

Managerial career

He has been national team manager during 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification matches and again during a short 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification spell in 2008. Cruz took charge of

again in summer 2008 after he had left them in 2006.Mauricio Cruz, último campeón
- El Nuevo Diario

Personal life

He has a brother named Donaldo Jiron.

References

External links

* ttps://www.nasljerseys.com/MISL/Players/C/Cruz.Maricio.htm MISL stats 1957 births Living people Nicaraguan men's footballers Nicaragua international footballers Diriangén FC players Nicaraguan expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Honduras Nicaraguan expatriate sportspeople in Honduras Expatriate soccer players in the United States Nicaraguan expatriate sportspeople in the United States Chicago Horizons players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Diriangén F.C. managers Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional de Honduras players Nicaraguan football managers Nicaragua national football team managers Association football forwards {{Nicaragua-footy-bio-stub