Arnold Javier Cruz Argueta (born 22 December 1970) is a retired Honduran football defender. He currently is manager of second division side UPNFM.^[1]

Club career

Nicknamed Chele,^[2] Cruz started his professional career at Olimpia before moving abroad to join compatriot César Obando at Mexican outfit UA Tamaulipas. He then played for fellow Mexicans Toluca and Morelia^[3] and joined Major League Soccer in 1997, where he would turn out for D.C. United and San Jose Clash.^[4] The much-travelled defender enjoyed a season in Argentinian football with Chacarita Juniors^[5] in between two more spells with Olimpia and played for Costa Rican side Cartaginés and the Salvadorans of Águila.^[6]

He finally returned to Honduras and Olimpia in 2005 and finished his career at Platense in Liga Nacional de Honduras.

International career

Cruz made his debut for Honduras in a May 1991 UNCAF Nations Cup match against Panama and has earned a total of 50 caps, scoring 3 goals. He has represented his country in 18 FIFA World Cup qualification matches^[7] and played at the 1991, 1993,^[8] 1995^[9] and 2003 UNCAF Nations Cups^[10] as well as at the 1991,^[11] 1996^[12] and 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cups.^[13]

His final international was a June 2003 friendly match against Venezuela.

International goals

Scores and results list Honduras' goal tally first.

N.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	22 September 1992	Estadio Nacional, Tegucigalpa, Honduras	Jamaica	4–1	5–1	Friendly match
2.	17 November 1996	Estadio Francisco Morazán, San Pedro Sula, Honduras	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	3–0	11–3	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
3.	20 August 2000	New York City, USA	Haiti	2–0	4–0	Friendly match

Retirement

He retired in 2008 and became assistant coach for Nahúm Espinoza at Platense. In 2011, he worked for a Youth Institution of the Honduran government.^[14] He became manager of UPNFM for the 2013 Clausura.

Honours and awards

References

External links

• Arnold Cruz at National-Football-Teams.com