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Osvaldo Ardiles

For the fictional assistant district attorney, see List of The Mentalist characters § Recurring characters.

Osvaldo César Ardiles (born 3 August 1952), more commonly known as Ossie Ardiles,[2] is an Argentine football manager, pundit and former player.

Osvaldo Ardiles
Ardiles with Tottenham Hotspur in 1981
Personal information
Full name Osvaldo César Ardiles[1]
Date of birth (1952-08-03) 3 August 1952 (age 72)[1]
Place of birth Córdoba, Argentina
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[1]
Position(s) Central midfielder
Youth career
Instituto
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1973 Instituto 14 (3)
1974 Belgrano 16 (2)
1975–1978 Huracán 109 (11)
1978–1988 Tottenham Hotspur 238 (16)
1982–1983 → Paris Saint-Germain (loan) 14 (1)
1985 → St George-Budapest (loan) 1 (0)
1988 Blackburn Rovers 5 (0)
1988–1989 Queens Park Rangers 8 (0)
1989 Fort Lauderdale Strikers 5 (1)
1989–1991 Swindon Town 2 (0)
Total 412 (34)
International career
1975–1982 Argentina 51 (8)
Managerial career
1989–1991 Swindon Town
1991–1992 Newcastle United
1992–1993 West Bromwich Albion
1993–1994 Tottenham Hotspur
1995 Guadalajara
1996–1998 Shimizu S-Pulse
1999 Croatia Zagreb
2000–2001 Yokohama F. Marinos
2001 Al-Ittihad
2002–2003 Racing Club
2003–2005 Tokyo Verdy
2006 Beitar Jerusalem
2007 Huracán
2008 Cerro Porteño
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Argentina
FIFA World Cup
Winner 1978 Argentina
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

A competitive and skilled midfielder, Ardiles became a cult hero in England, along with Glenn Hoddle and compatriot Ricardo Villa, as a player for Tottenham Hotspur. He left England for a period on loan as a result of the outbreak of the Falklands War in 1982, thus missing most of the 1982–83 English season. He won the 1978 FIFA World Cup as part of the Argentina national team.

After retirement, Ardiles began his management career in England, coaching Swindon Town, Newcastle United and West Bromwich Albion, before returning to Tottenham to become the first Premier League manager from Argentina.[3] As manager of Spurs in the mid-1990s, he played several matches utilizing a formation that had five forwards,[citation needed] a formation that had not been used in English football since the 1900s.

During his career, Ardiles has also coached in Mexico, Croatia, Japan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Israel, Paraguay and his native Argentina. In Ireland, he is a pundit for RTÉ Sport.[4]

Club career

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Ardiles was born in Córdoba,[1] and played for Instituto de Córdoba from a young age.[5] As a youngster, Ardiles played football in the streets and was given the nickname Pitón (python) by his brother because of his snake-like dribbling skills.[6] He was named as El Gráfico's best player of the interior in 1974, and abandoned his law degree studies in order to play professional football.[7]

He also played for Club Atlético Belgrano and Huracán. After the 1978 World Cup he moved to England to play for Tottenham Hotspur where he spent ten seasons.

He helped Tottenham win the FA Cup in his third season there (1980–81), and collaborated with pop duo Chas & Dave as well as the rest of the Tottenham players for a song, "Ossie's Dream". He played a big part in another FA Cup triumph the following year, but did not play in the final because it had already been arranged with Spurs’ management that he would leave early to join up with Argentina's 1982 World Cup squad.

In the wake of the Falklands War between Britain and Argentina it became difficult for him to return to White Hart Lane and he went on loan to Paris Saint-Germain in France. After one season in Paris, he returned to Tottenham, helping the club to win the UEFA Cup in 1984 (coming on as a substitute in the second leg of the final). In the autumn of 1987, he was caretaker coach under caretaker manager Doug Livermore of Tottenham between the resignation of David Pleat and the appointment of Terry Venables.[8] Ardiles left Spurs in 1988. He then played for Blackburn Rovers, Queens Park Rangers and Swindon Town, before being appointed as manager of Swindon Town in July 1989. He played part of the 1989 American Soccer League season with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers.

On 7 February 2008, Ardiles, along with his fellow countryman Ricardo Villa, was inducted into the Tottenham Hotspur Hall of Fame.[9]

International career

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Ardiles was called up to the Argentina senior team by manager César Luis Menotti in 1975. He was a member of the World Cup winning squad in 1978.[10] At the 1982 World Cup he wore the number 1 shirt, as Argentina's policy at the time was to number their players alphabetically by surname, with an exception made so Diego Maradona could wear his preferred number 10.[11]

Management career

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Ardiles in 2006

In July 1989, Ardiles moved into football management with second division Swindon Town when Lou Macari resigned to join West Ham in July 1989. He wowed fans by replacing the long ball style which had been so successful with a new "Samba style", which saw the Town playing attacking football. Part of this change was the new "diamond formation" which Ardiles implemented: a 4–4–2 style with left-sided, right-sided, attacking and defensive midfielders.

Ten months after he had joined, Ardiles led Swindon to their highest ever league position, finishing fourth in the second division. After beating Blackburn in the first leg of the play-off semi-final, the fans paid tribute with a tickertape reception in the second leg. Swindon went on to win promotion to the top flight for the first time in their history—beating Sunderland in the Play-off final—only to have the promotion taken from them ten days later, when the Football League demoted them for irregular payments to players.

The following season, Ardiles was told to sell players to keep the club alive and Wembley hero Alan McLoughlin was the first big-money departure. With Swindon rocked by their pre-season troubles, their form deserted them. By the end of February, relegation threatened, and when Newcastle offered Ardiles the chance to become their new boss, he accepted, becoming the club's first foreign manager. But his time on Tyneside was not a success and he lasted 12 months in the job before being sacked, with the Magpies bottom of the second division, though they achieved safety under his successor Kevin Keegan.

In June 1992, Ardiles replaced Bobby Gould as manager of West Bromwich Albion, who had just missed out on the third division playoffs in 1991–92. At the end of the 1992–93 season, Ardiles guided Albion to victory over Port Vale in the Division Two playoff final. Shortly afterwards he walked out of the Hawthorns to return his former club Tottenham as manager, but his management spell was nowhere near as successful as his spell as a player. Tottenham finished 15th in the Premiership and despite the expensive acquisition of Jürgen Klinsmann and Ilie Dumitrescu in the 1994 close season, Ardiles was sacked in October 1994 with Tottenham languishing in the bottom half of the Premier League. They had just been punished for financial irregularities committed during the late 1980s: with a 1-year FA Cup ban, £600,000 fine and 12 league points deducted. The punishment was later amended to a £1.5million fine and six points deducted but the FA Cup ban and points deduction were later quashed.

Ardiles became coach of J. League Division 1 side Yokohama F. Marinos in January 2000, but was sacked in June 2001, following a poor start to the season.[12] From 2003 to 2005 he coached Tokyo Verdy, with whom he won the 2004 Emperor's Cup, In July 2005 Ardiles was fired after a nine-game winless streak.[13] In mid-2006, he moved to Israel to coach Beitar Jerusalem, though he quit after only a few months in charge on 18 October 2006, due to severe differences of opinion with the club's board of directors. After a short break he was appointed Club Atlético Huracán manager, in his native Argentina, in September 2007; he steered the club to 7th in the table before resigning at the end of the Apertura 2007.

He joined Paraguayan club Cerro Porteño in May 2008[14] but was sacked in August of the same year after a string of poor results and was replaced by Pedro Troglio.[15]

Media career

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Ardiles was enlisted by RTÉ Sport for their squad of pundits ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.[16][17][18] He returned to RTÉ's team for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.[19]

Ardiles played Carlos Rey in the 1981 World War II film Escape to Victory.

Personal life

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He married fellow Argentine Silvia Navarro in December 1973.[20] Ardiles' cousin, José, was killed during the first Argentinian bombing raid of the Falklands War on 1 May 1982.[21]

In January 2014, Ardiles and Ricardo Villa were involved in a car crash in the Falkland Islands during the filming of Camilo Antolini's 30 for 30 documentary White, Blue and White.[22] Ardiles sustained minor injuries in the accident, and required more than 20 stitches in his head.[23]

Career statistics

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Club

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Ardiles with teammate Ricardo Villa posing with the FA Cup trophy, May 1981
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[24]
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Instituto 1973 Argentine Primera División 14 3
Belgrano 1974 Argentine Primera División 16 2
Huracán 1975 Argentine Primera División 16 0
1976 41 7
1977 52 4
1978
Total 109 11
Tottenham Hotspur 1978–79 First Division 38 3
1979–80 40 3
1980–81 36 5
1981–82 26 2
1982–83 2 0
1983–84 9 0
1984–85 11 2
1985–86 23 1
1986–87 25 0
1987–88 28 0
Total 238 16
Paris Saint-Germain (loan) 1982–83 Division 1 14 1 3
St George FC (loan) 1985 National Soccer League 1 0
Blackburn Rovers 1987–88 Second Division 5 0
Queens Park Rangers 1988–89 First Division 8 0
Fort Lauderdale Strikers 1989 American Soccer League 5 1
Swindon Town 1989–90 Second Division 2 0
1990–91 0 0
Total 2 0
Career total 412 34

International

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Ardiles (center) with Daniel Bertoni (left) and Mario Kempes (right) in 1981
Appearances and goals by national team and year[24]
National team Year Apps Goals
Argentina 1975 8 4
1976 9 1
1977 11 0
1978 12 2
1979 1 0
1981 2 0
1982 8 1
Total 51 8

Managerial statistics

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[25]

Team Nat From To Record
G W D L Win %
Swindon Town   1989 1991 95 32 33 30 033.68
Newcastle United   1991 1992 52 12 18 22 023.08
West Bromwich Albion   1992 1993 55 30 11 14 054.55
Tottenham Hotspur   1993 1994 56 17 14 25 030.36
Guadalajara   1995 1995 19 7 7 5 036.84
Shimizu S-Pulse   1996 1998 124 72 7 45 058.06
Croatia Zagreb   1999 1999 19 9 5 5 047.37
Yokohama F. Marinos   2000 2001 40 21 2 17 052.50
Racing Club   2002 2003 59 25 16 18 042.37
Tokyo Verdy   2003 2005 67 22 20 25 032.84
Beitar Jerusalem   2006 2006 7 3 2 2 042.86
Huracán   2007 2007 12 5 4 3 041.67
FC Machida Zelvia   2012 2012 42 7 11 24 016.67
Total 642 257 150 235 040.03

Honours

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Player

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Huracán

Tottenham Hotspur

Argentina

Individual

Manager

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Swindon Town

West Bromwich Albion

Shimizu S-Pulse

Tokyo Verdy

Individual

References

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Specific
  1. ^ a b c d "Ardiles: Osvaldo César Ardiles: Manager". BDFutbol. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  2. ^ Bandini, Nicky (13 February 2009). "Ossie Ardiles". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  3. ^ "The rise and fall of British or Irish managers in the Premier League". Eurosport. 5 October 2015.
  4. ^ "Ardiles joins Bill and the Boys". The Irish Times. 1 June 2010. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
  5. ^ Ardiles 2009, p. 8
  6. ^ Allen, Matt (April 2008). "Ossie Ardiles". FourFourTwo; One-on-One. Haymarket Group. pp. 12–16.
  7. ^ Ardiles 2009, p. 13
  8. ^ Note: Ardiles asserts in his autobiography that he was caretaker manager between Pleat and Venables. This is incorrect. See List of Tottenham Hotspur F.C. managers and references there.
  9. ^ "Hall of Fame". Tottenhamhotspur.com. Retrieved 29 June 2010.
  10. ^ Ardiles 2009, p. 6
  11. ^ Mazzaro, Martina (13 August 2017). "L'88 di Buffon, il "44Gatti" e l'1 di Ardiles: storia dei numeri pazzi". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  12. ^ "Ardiles axed as Yokohama coach". BBC Sport. 2 June 2001. Retrieved 19 January 2008.
  13. ^ "Ardiles sacked by Japanese side". BBC Sport. 19 July 2005. Retrieved 19 January 2008.
  14. ^ Osvaldo Ardiles will lead to Cerro Porteño Archived 3 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ "Cerro Porteno Fire Ossie Ardiles | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  16. ^ "Ardiles and Hamann join RTÉ for World Cup". RTÉ Sport. 1 June 2010. Archived from the original on 4 June 2010. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
  17. ^ Black, Fergus (2 June 2010). "RTÉ hopes Ossie and squad will spur fans to back home team". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
  18. ^ O'Malley, Carl (2 June 2010). "RTÉ roll out big guns for their 56 live games". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
  19. ^ "Friedel, Ardiles & Lennon join RTÉ for World Cup". RTÉ Sport. RTÉ. 5 June 2014. Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2014. Joining them will be former German international Didi Hamann, Argentine World Cup winner Ossie Ardiles, former Celtic manager Neil Lennon, ex-USA international Brad Friedel and Real Madrid coach Paul Clement.
  20. ^ Ardiles 2009, p. 12
  21. ^ Domeneghetti, Roger (4 May 2023). Everybody Wants To Rule The World: Britain, Sport & The 1980s. Yellow Jersey Press. p. 226. ISBN 9781787290594.
  22. ^ "Ardiles and Villa unhurt after Falklands crash - ESPN.co.uk". ESPN UK. 21 January 2014. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  23. ^ "Ossie Ardiles involved in car accident in Falkland Islands". BBC Sport. 21 January 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  24. ^ a b Osvaldo Ardiles at National-Football-Teams.com
  25. ^ J.League Data Site(in Japanese)
  26. ^ "1981/82 Charity Shield". footballsite.co.uk. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  27. ^ "Golden Foot – Osvaldo Ardiles". Goldenfoot.com. Archived from the original on 9 February 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  28. ^ "IFFHS ALL TIME ARGENTINA MEN'S DREAM TEAM". 26 August 2021.
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