José Manuel Cruz Orozco (born 10 August 1988) is a Spanish

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 lea ...

who plays as a defender for Ciudad de Lucena.

Club career

Born in Córdoba, Andalusia, Cruz finished his formation with

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

, then played his first three years as a senior with the C-team. On 15 July 2010 he signed with

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting is a Spanish professional association football, football club from Gijón, Principality of Asturias. Founded on 1 July 1905, it plays in the ...

, but only appeared officially for the reserves in

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

. In the 2012 summer, Cruz joined fellow league club

Lucena CF Lucena Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. was a Spanish football team based in Lucena, Córdoba, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1968, it was dissolved in 2015. History ''Lucena Club de Fútbol'' was founded in 1968. It was originally ...

. After only one season he penned a one-year deal with

Real Jaén Real Jaén Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Jaén, Spain, Jaén, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1929 it plays in , holding home matches at ''Nuevo Estadio de La Vict ...

, freshly promoted to

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

. On 18 August 2013, Cruz played his first game as a professional, starting in a 1–2 home loss against

SD Eibar Sociedad Deportiva Eibar (in ) is a Spanish football league teams, Spanish professional football club based in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country. Founded on 30 November 1940, the men’s te ...

. He scored his first professional goal on 30 March of the following year, netting the last in a 1–1 home draw against

Hércules CF Hércules de Alicante Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team in Alicante, in the Valencian Community. Founded on 25 October 1922, it currently plays in Primera Federación and plays its home games ...

. On 27 July 2015, Cruz moved abroad for the first time in his career, joining Hong Kong club

Yuen Long FC Yuen Long Football Club (), known as Best Union Yuen Long () for sponsorship reasons, is a Hong Kong professional football club based in Yuen Long Yuen Long is a town in the western New Territories, Hong Kong. To its west lie Hung Shui K ...

. The following January he returned to his native country, and represented

UD Almería B Unión Deportiva Almería "B" is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 2001, it is the reserve team of UD Almería and currently plays in , holding home gam ...

and

Racing de Ferrol Racing Club de Ferrol, commonly known as Racing de Ferrol, is a Spanish football team based in Ferrol, Province of A Coruña, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Founded in 1919, the club currently plays in , holding home games at '' E ...

in the following years. On 28 July 2017, Cruz signed for Norwegian

Eliteserien Eliteserien () is a professional association football league in Norway and the highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Norwegian First Division ...

club

Viking FK Viking Fotballklubb, commonly known as Viking or Viking Stavanger internationally, is a Norwegian professional football club from the city of Stavanger. The club was founded in 1899. It is one of the most successful clubs in Norwegian football, ...

. He left the club after the 2017 season. On 17 January 2018, Cruz returned to Spain, signing for Segunda División B club

Mérida AD Asociación Deportiva Mérida, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Mérida, Spain, Mérida, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Founded in 2013 it is a successor club of ...

. Ahead of the 2018–19 season, he joined fellow Segunda División B club

Marbella FC Marbella Fútbol Club, formerly known as Unión Deportiva Marbella, is a Spanish football team based in Marbella, the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1997, it currently plays in , playing home matches at Dama de Noche football groun ...

. After two seasons with Marbella, he signed for

Linares Deportivo Linares Deportivo () is a Spanish football team based in Linares, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 2009 as a replacement for dissolved CD Linares, it plays in Segunda Federación – Group 4. The team's stadium is '' Estadio ...

in September 2020.

Club statistics

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Jose 1988 births Footballers from Córdoba, Spain Living people Men's association football defenders Spanish men's footballers Real Madrid C footballers Sporting de Gijón B players Lucena CF players Real Jaén footballers Yuen Long FC players UD Almería B players Racing de Ferrol footballers Viking FK players Mérida AD players Marbella FC players Linares Deportivo footballers Córdoba CF players UCAM Murcia CF players CD Ciudad de Lucena players Segunda División players Primera Federación players Segunda División B players Segunda Federación players Tercera División players Tercera Federación players Hong Kong Premier League players Eliteserien players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Hong Kong Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Hong Kong Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Norway 21st-century Spanish sportsmen