Paulo Rinaldo Cruzado Durand (born 21 September 1984) is a Peruvian 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 lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Club career

Alianza Lima

Born in

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

, Cruzado came up through the youth ranks of Academia Tito Drago. In 2002, he joined

Alianza Lima Club Alianza Lima, more commonly known as simply Alianza Lima, is a Peru, Peruvian professional sports club based in La Victoria District, Lima, La Victoria District of Lima, Peru. The club was founded under the name of Sport Alianza on February ...

. Later in the 2002 season he made his

Peruvian Primera División The Peru First Division (; known simply as ''First Division'', and Liga 1 Te Apuesto for sponsorship reasons), officially known as Liga 1, is the top flight of association football in Peru. It has been referred to as Torneo Descentralizado since ...

debut for Alianza Lima, which was his only appearance that year. He eventually established himself as an important player for Alianza and together with a young

Jefferson Farfán Jefferson Agustín Farfán Guadalupe (; born 26 October 1984) is a Peruvian former professional footballer who mainly played as a winger. Commonly known as Farfán or the nickname ''Foquita'' (Spanish for ''Little Seal''), he is known for his s ...

went on to claim the 2003 Peruvian Primera División League title. Again in the 2004 season he helped Alianza win the 2004 Peruvian League title. He made his

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

debut on 11 February 2004 in a group stage match against

São Paulo FC São Paulo Futebol Clube () is a professional Association football, football club in the Morumbi, São Paulo, Morumbi district of São Paulo, Brazil. It plays in Campeonato Paulista, São Paulo (state), São Paulo's premier State football lea ...

, which finished in a 2–1 loss for Alianza. He played in all of the group stage matches in the

2004 Copa Libertadores The 2004 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2004 Copa Toyota Libertadores de América for sponsorship reasons) was the 45th edition of the Copa Libertadores, CONMEBOL's premier annual international club tournament. The tournament was w ...

. However, Alianza were eliminated in that stage as they only managed to finish in third place. In the 2005 season, he played 35 games and scored 1 goal, but with the departure of key players like Jefferson Farfán and Walter Vilchez Alianza finished in 7th place in the overall standings. The next season Cruzado made the most appearances for Alianza in all his time there, with 42 games played and 3 goals scored. That year in the 2006 season he formed a strong partnership in midfield with Marko Ciurlizza and won his third Peruvian League title with Alianza. Cruzado played an important role in the final two-legged tie that determined the champions of the 2006 season. The first leg was won by

Cienciano Club Cienciano, more commonly known as Cienciano, is a Peru, Peruvian professional association football, football club based in Cusco, that currently plays in the Peruvian Primera División. It gained worldwide recognition after defeating Club At ...

1–0 in

Cusco Cusco or Cuzco (; or , ) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range and the Huatanay river. It is the capital of the eponymous Cusco Province, province and Cusco Region, department. The city was the cap ...

. In the second leg, Cruzado helped Alianza turn the tie around and defeat Cienciano 3–1 in Matute, with the winning goal being scored by teammate Flavio Maestri.

Grasshopper Club Zürich

In January 2007, he left Alianza and transferred to Swiss team

Grasshopper Club Zürich Grasshopper Club Zurich (GCZ), commonly referred to as Grasshopper Club or simply just GC, is a professional sports club, multisports club based in Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland. They are nicknamed the ''Grasshoppers'' or sometimes just ''Hopper ...

. He made his Swiss League debut on 10 February 2007 in a goal-less draw against

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a professional football club based in Zurich, Switzerland. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League thirteen times and the Swiss Cup ten times. ...

.. He scored his first goal in a 2–0 win against

Neuchâtel Xamax Neuchâtel (, ; ; ) is a town, a municipality, and the capital of the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel on Lake Neuchâtel. Since the fusion in 2021 of the municipalities of Neuchâtel, Corcelles-Cormondrèche, Peseux, and Valangin, the city has ap ...

on 23 February 2008. His second goal was against

FC Sion Football Club Sion, commonly known as simply FC Sion or Sion, is a Swiss Association football, football club from the city of Sion, Switzerland, Sion. The club was founded in 1909 and play their home matches at the Stade Tourbillon. They have wo ...

also in a 2–0 win, on 10 May 2008.

Sporting Cristal

In August 2008, Cruzado left Grasshoppers and joined

Sporting Cristal Club Sporting Cristal S.A., shortened to Sporting Cristal, is a Peruvian sports club located in the city of Lima, best known for its association football, soccer team. It was founded on 13 December 1955 in the Rímac District, Rímac district by e ...

for the end of the 2008 Peruvian Primera División. He helped Cristal finish the season in second place in the overall standings.

Esteghlal FC

Cruzaldo played for

until January 2009 when he joined Esteghlal in Iran which is one of the most popular

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

teams in Asia. The details of his transfer to this famous Iranian football club had not been revealed until the very last minutes. He was expected to play in the

AFC Champions League 2009 The 2009 AFC Champions League was the 28th edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 7th under the current AFC Champions League title. The final was held at the National ...

. He had a very serious injury during his first season which he just played few minuted for the club, but in his second season he was available for more matches and became one of the regular starting players. He left Iran seeking to return to a Peruvian club, possibly

, in 2010.

Club Juan Aurich

On 15 July 2010, Cruzado joined Peruvian club

Juan Aurich Club Juan Aurich S. A., commonly known as Juan Aurich, is a Peru, Peruvian association football, football club based in Chiclayo. The original Juan Aurich club was founded in 1922, this incarnation however was founded in 2005. The club currently ...

in the middle of the

2010 Torneo Descentralizado The 2010 Torneo Descentralizado de Fútbol Profesional (known as the 2010 Copa Cable Mágico for sponsorship reasons) was the ninety-fourth season of Association Peruvian football. A total of 16 teams competed in the tournament, with Universitar ...

season. His choice to return to Peru was mainly due to his desire to be called up by new coach

Sergio Markarián Sergio Apraham Markarián Abrahamián (born 1 November 1944) is a Uruguayan-Argentine former football coach of Armenian descent. In 2015, he was the head coach of the Greece national team. Early life Markarián lived in Argentina during most o ...

to the Peru national team. Cruzado made his official debut for Juan Aurich on 21 August 2010 in a league match away to

José Gálvez FBC José Gálvez FBC is a Peruvian football club based in Chimbote, Ancash. The club was founded in 1951 under the name Manuel Rivera after the famous Chimbote born footballer Manuel Rivera. The club was forced to change its name because the FPF ...

. The manager Juan Reynoso put Rinaldo in the 79th minute to secure the 1–0 victory. The following match he made his home debut at the

Estadio Elías Aguirre Estadio Capitán Remigio Elías Aguirre Romero is a multi-purpose stadium administrated by the governmental ''Instituto Peruano del Deporte'' in Chiclayo, Peru. It was built in 1970 named after the 19th century Peruvian sailor Elías Aguirre Rom ...

against

Colegio Nacional Iquitos Colegio Nacional Iquitos (usually referred to as CNI) is a Peruvian football team based in the city of Iquitos which was founded in 1926. CNI is the biggest club in the city of Iquitos and currently is not playing in any league. At the beginning ...

, which he played the entire match as it finished in a 1–1 draw. Cruzado quickly won a starting role in the center of midfield and managed to play in all but one of the remaining matches of the 2010 Descentralizado season. He played his last match of the season at home against

club

. He received a red card in the 73rd minute as did his teammate Juan Carlos La Rosa in 46th minute, and eventually the match finished in a 3–2 win for Cienciano. Juan Aurich finished the season in 6th place in the Aggregate table. Cruzado started the

2011 Torneo Descentralizado The 2011 Torneo Descentralizado de Fútbol Profesional (known as the 2011 Copa Movistar for sponsorship reasons) was the ninety-fifth season of Association Peruvian football. A total of 16 teams competed in the tournament, with Universidad de ...

season in Round 2 at home against

Unión Comercio Club Deportivo Unión Comercio, simply known as Unión Comercio, is a Peruvian professional football club based in the city of Nueva Cajamarca, San Martín, Peru. The club plays in the Liga 2, the second tier of Peruvian football, after being ...

. In this match Rinaldo scored his first official goal for Juan Aurich in the 73rd minute, which helped his side win 3–2 over Unión Comercio. Away to the defending champions Universidad San Martin, Cruzado won a penalty that was converted by teammate

Luis Tejada Luis Carlos "Matador" Tejada Hansell (28 March 1982 – 28 January 2024) was a Panamanian professional association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. A journeyman (sports), journeyman player, Tejada re ...

to salvage a 1–1 draw in third round. Rinaldo was on the score sheet again by scoring the winning goal from outside the area with a powerful left-footed shot in the 2–0 home win against

León de Huánuco Club Social Deportivo León de Huánuco, more commonly known as León de Huánuco, is a professional Peruvian football (soccer), football club based in the city of Huánuco. It is historically the biggest football club of Huánuco city. Founded in ...

, the Runners-up of the league the previous season. Away to the Miguel Grau Stadium, Cruzado then helped his club earn three important points in the 5–0 thrashing of

Sport Boys The Sport Boys Association, commonly referred to as the Sport Boys or simply the Boys, is a Peruvian association football club based in the port city of Callao, founded on 28 July 1927. The club currently participate in the Peruvian Primera Divi ...

by scoring the third goal of the night. As a regular starter he continued to help Juan Aurich make a bid for the title that season. In Round 9 against direct competitors

, Cruzado helped Juan Aurich defeat his former club 2–0, and two rounds later Juan Aurich won another three valuable points with a 2–1 home win against his other former club

. Cruzado scored his last goal for Juan Aurich in Round 12 in the 2–1 loss away to Cienciano. His last appearance for the

Chiclayo Chiclayo (; mochica language, Mochica: ''Cɥiclaiæp'') is the principal city and capital of the Lambayeque region and Chiclayo Province in northern Peru. It is located from the Pacific coast, from the city of Trujillo, Peru, Trujillo, and from ...

based club was in Round 15 at home against Universidad César Vallejo, which he played the entire match and finished in a 2–0 win for his side. At this midpoint stage of the season Juan Aurich was in third place behind Alianza Lima and Cienciano. Juan Aurich would eventually go on to win the title that season for the first time in the club's history. Cruzado was called up to participate in the Copa América, and during this time journalist Daniel Peredo first announced the news that Cruzado would join Italian club

ChievoVerona Associazione Calcio ChievoVerona, commonly referred to as ChievoVerona or simply Chievo (, ), is an Italian football club named after and representing Chievo, a suburb of 4,500 inhabitants in Verona, Veneto. It is owned since 2024 by the team' ...

after the summer tournament.

Chievo

On 5 August 2011, Cruzado left Juan Aurich and transferred to

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club ChievoVerona for the start of the 2011–2012 season. He signed a three-year contract and chose to wear the number eight shirt as reported by Chievo's official website. On 13 August 2011, he made his debut for Chievo in a 45-minute summer friendly match against

Novara Novara (; Novarese Lombard, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous ...

, which ended in a 2–0 loss for his side. Cruzado then played his second match for Chievo on 27 August 2011 in a friendly match against

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

. He entered the match at the start of the second half for club captain

Sergio Pellissier Sergio Pellissier (, ; born 12 April 1979) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is currently working as owner and chairman of AC ChievoVerona, after FC Clivense (a club he founded in 2021) was reestablished ...

when the score was still 0–0. In the end, Cruzado helped ChievoVerona defeat Inter 3–2. Cruzado made his Serie A debut on 11 September 2011 at home in the Bentegodi stadium against

for the second round (the first round was suspended) of the 2011–12 Serie A season. He entered the match in the 66th minute replacing

Paolo Sammarco Paolo Sammarco (born 17 March 1983) is an Italian football coach and a former player who played as a midfielder. He is the caretaker head coach of Serie D club Ambrosiana. Club career Chievo A product of European giants A.C. Milan's youth syst ...

and eventually the match finished in a 2–2 draw. Cruzado made his

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

debut on 11 January 2012 in the

Round of 16 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

away to

Udinese Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sport ...

International career

Rinaldo made his debut for the Peru national team on 27 August 2003 in a friendly match against

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

. His most recent appearance with Peru was in the

2011 Copa América The 2011 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, better known as the 2011 Copa América or the Copa América 2011 Argentina, was the 43rd edition of the Copa América, the main international association football, football tournament for national ...

. Cruzado scored his first goal for Peru on 2 September 2011 in a friendly match against

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

which was played in

. He scored his goal in the 36th minute by shooting a powerful left-footed shot into the top right corner from about 25 yards away.

Career statistics

Club stats

International

Honours

Alianza Lima *

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

Esteghlal *

Iran Pro League The Persian Gulf Pro League (, ''Lig-e Bartar-e Xalij-e Fârs''), formerly known as the Iran Premier League (, ''Lig-e bartar-e Irân''), is a professional association football league in Iran and the highest level of the Iranian football league s ...

: 2008–09 Newell's Old Boys *

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...

: 2013 Torneo Final Peru *

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

bronze medal:

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cruzado, Rinaldo 1984 births Living people Footballers from Lima Peruvian men's footballers 21st-century Peruvian sportsmen Peru men's international footballers Peruvian expatriate men's footballers Peruvian Primera División players Swiss Super League players Serie A players Uruguayan Primera División players Club Alianza Lima footballers Grasshopper Club Zurich players Sporting Cristal footballers Esteghlal F.C. players Juan Aurich footballers AC ChievoVerona players Club Nacional de Football players Newell's Old Boys footballers Club Deportivo Universidad César Vallejo footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Iran Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Uruguay Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina 2011 Copa América players Men's association football midfielders