Ulises De La Cruz - El Humanitario ("The Humanitarian")
Ulises Hernán de la Cruz Bernoid (born 8 February 1974 in Piquiucho) is an Ecuadorian footballer who currently plays for English club Reading. In my opinion the greates player, his charity makes him one of the best humanitarians. Ulises "The Great One" De La Cruz. If there were more Ecuatorians like him in the government, Ecuador would not be a great country.
Born in Piquiucho, a small village in the Valle del Chota, one Ecuador's poorest regions, De la Cruz has set up a foundation there to fund a number of projects serving the local community to which he donates about 10% of his salary. At one of the Reading matches, fans were asked to donate money to his fund and he raised a few thousand pounds. The foundation funds amongst other things a water treatment plant, a health centre and a sports ground. He has been named a UNICEF ambassador.
His first team was the Ecuadorian side Sociedad Deportivo Quito, for whom he started playing at the age of 16 in the junior division and later the professional division. Nonetheless, De la Cruz's breakthrough season was with LDU Quito in 1999. He scored three goals in the final against Emelec (7-0). On 18 June 2001, he moved to Scottish Premier League club Hibernian for a fee of £700,000, for whom he made 25 full league appearances, as well as seven substitute appearances. He scored two goals for Hibs, both coming in the Edinburgh derby against Hibs' local rivals Hearts. He struggled to make the grade at Hibernian but had a good World Cup in Korea/Japan and was signed by Graham Taylor for Aston Villa shortly after that tournament.
In his first season at the club he was selected only occasionally, but he featured more in the 2003-04 season after David O'Leary took over, and an injury to Mark Delaney ensured that de la Cruz could start more games than he had previously, and he signed a new contract for the 2004-05 campaign.
During his third season with Aston Villa, de la Cruz became frustrated at his lack of first team opportunities and accused O'Leary of blocking transfers for him, but on 25 August 2006, he signed a one year deal with Reading on a free transfer.
Although not always a first choice for his club, he remained a linchpin of the national side picking up 84 caps and five goals in his career to date. He was a fixture in the Ecuador team in the 2006 FIFA World Cup which reached the second round.
In his homeland, de la Cruz is one of Ecuador's most popular players, both for his footballing talent and his charitable projects. The Supporters Trust At Reading (STAR) have organised a facility to allow Reading and other supporters the means to donate to the Ulises de la Cruz Foundation.
He scored his first Reading goal against Sheffield United in a 3-1 win on 20 January 2007. After an impressive season with his English club, he was offered a contract that would tie him to the Madejski Stadium for two more years.
Year Club App (Gls)
Senior Clubs
1998-2001 Liga Deportiva Univrsitaria de Quito 52 (9)
2001-2002 Hibernian 32 (2)
2002-2006 Aston Villa 89 (1)
2006-Present Reading 12 (1)
Ecuador National Team
1995-Present Ecuador 90 (5)
Personal Web
1 comment:
por favor senor ULISES DE LA CRUZ usted podria por favor, hacerle llegar este mensage al senor CHIRIBOGA que no caiga en el mismo herror, que no contrate al senor Gomez.
Una vez, yo le dije cuando vino, al desfile ecuatoriano en chicago, que nesecitavamos un cambio de tecnico , pero no de esa maera cometiendo esos errores terribles yo le habia sugerido que nesecitabamos un tecnico mas agresivo tipo marcelo bielsa pero no lo que quiere hacer ahora.
El cree que la jente comun y corriente na sabe nada, estamos quedando en mal internacionalmente por su culpa.
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