Jorge Enrique Cruz-Cruz (born March 30, 1966) is a former Colombian footballer and current scout/coach who played professionally for clubs in Colombia and Argentina. He holds a United States

United States Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of soccer in the United States. It is a full member of FIFA and governs American soccer ...

A Coaching License with a

NSCAA The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than ...

National Goalkeeper License, a Brazilian B License, and an Asian Football Confederation A License. Cruz formerly coached the Central Texas Lobos FC of the

Gulf Coast Premier League The Gulf Coast Premier League (GCPL) is a United States Adult Soccer Association affiliated Amateur Elite League that includes teams from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The regular season of the GCPL runs May through Jul ...

and has served the

on the Development Academy and Olympic Development sides.

College career

Professional career

Cruz began to develop at

America de Cali The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

in his native

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

before moving to

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, Texas, USA to pursue a college degree. He was lured back to South America and featured for

Racing de Córdoba Club Atlético Racing, known as Racing de Córdoba, is an Argentine sports club headquartered in the city of Córdoba. The football team currently plays in Primera Nacional, the regionalised second division of the Argentine football league sys ...

in 1989/90 amassing 6 goals in 24 games. Cruz went on short stints with both

Independiente Santa Fe Club Independiente Santa Fe, known simply as Santa Fe, is a Colombian professional Association football, football team based in Bogotá, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Estadio El Campín, El Cam ...

and

Chaco For Ever Club Atlético Chaco For Ever, usually just Chaco For Ever, is an Argentine football club, their home town is Resistencia, in the Province of Chaco in Northern Argentina. They currently play in the Primera Nacional, the second tier of Argentin ...

impressing in the National B which led to a transfer to

Huracán Huracán (; ; , "one legged"), often referred to as ''U Kʼux Kaj'', the "Heart of Sky", is a Kʼicheʼ Maya god of wind, storm, fire and one of the creator deities who participated in all three attempts at creating humanity. He also caused th ...

in 1992 where Cruz went on to score 25 goals in 65 matches. Having been the highest goal scorer in National B and First Division, Cruz earned the title of Top Goal Scorer of the year in Argentina. This fine form caught the attention of the managers of Colombia (Francisco Maturana) as well as USA (Bora Milutinović), but Cruz was unable to squeeze into a position at the

World Cup 1994 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 w ...

for either nation. A short spell followed at

Quilmes Quilmes () is a city on the coast of the Rio de la Plata, in the , on the southeast end of the Greater Buenos Aires, being some away from the urban centre area of Buenos Aires. The city was founded in 1666 and is the seat of the eponymous '' ...

(B Nacional, 8 matches, 2 goals) before Cruz returned to the US to pursue a career in coaching. Cruz, often referred to by the double last name 'Cruz-Cruz' was a barreling, right-footed forward who was also good in the air. He is endeared at

for not only an exciting goal-scoring race of 1993 with

Alberto Acosta Alberto Federico 'Beto' Acosta Tabizzi (born 23 August 1966) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. In a professional career which spanned 18 years (nearly 700 official games and more than 250 goals), he pla ...

but also helping the team to a runner-up finish in the 1994 Clausura. Cruz made a common practice of thanking God for goals and good performances.

Coaching career

Cruz has been a

United States Soccer Development Academy The U.S. Soccer Development Academy (DA) was an American soccer league. Formed in 2007, the league featured youth academies and youth clubs from various organizations, including Major League Soccer and the United Soccer League. The DA's mission ...

Scout since 2008 and also an Assistant Coach for the U14, U15, and U17 USA Girls National Teams. Cruz served as an Assistant Coach of the Jordan Women's National Team under Michael Dickey from 2017 to 2018. Cruz worked as a Professional Match Evaluator for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

from 2010 to 2017 and has been on the Olympic Development Program staff since 2005.

References

External links

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Futbolistas Extranjeros profile

Houston Baptist profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz-Cruz, Jorge 1966 births Living people Colombian men's footballers Colombian expatriate men's footballers Club Atlético Banfield footballers Quilmes Atlético Club footballers Club Atlético Huracán footballers Chaco For Ever footballers Independiente Santa Fe footballers Argentine Primera División players Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina Men's association football forwards Colombian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate football managers in Jordan Expatriate soccer coaches in the United States Houston Christian Huskies men's soccer players Colombian expatriate football managers 20th-century Colombian sportsmen