Osvaldo Ardiles
Personal information
Full name	Osvaldo César Ardiles
Date of birth	3 August 1952 (1952-08-03) (age 57)
Place of birth	Bell Ville, Argentina
Height	1.69 m (5 ft 6+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth career
	Instituto de Córdoba
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1973 1974 1975–1978 1978–1988 1982–1983 1985 1988 1988–1989 1989 1989–1991	Instituto de Córdoba Belgrano Huracán Tottenham Hotspur →Paris Saint Germain (loan) →St George Saints (loan) Blackburn Rovers Queens Park Rangers Ft. Lauderdale Strikers Swindon Town Total	014 0(3) 016 0(2) 113 (11) 221 (16) 014 0(1) 001 0(0) 005 0(0) 008 0(0) 00- 0(-) 002 0(0) 376 (32)
National team2
1973–1982	Argentina	063 0(8)
Teams managed
1989–1991 1991–1992 1992–1993 1993–1994 1995 1996–1998 1999 2000–2001 2001 2002–2003 2003–2005 2006 2007 2008	Swindon Town Newcastle United West Bromwich Albion Tottenham Hotspur Club Deportivo Guadalajara Shimizu S-Pulse Croatia Zagreb Yokohama F. Marinos Al-Ittihad Racing Club Tokyo Verdy 1969 Beitar Jerusalem Club Atlético Huracán Cerro Porteño
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 07:47, 15 December 2006 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 07:48, 15 December 2006 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Osvaldo César Ardiles (born 3 August 1952 in Córdoba Province), often referred to in Britain as Ossie Ardiles^[1], is a football coach and former midfielder who won the 1978 World Cup as part of the Argentinian national team.

A competitive and skilled midfielder, he became a cult hero in England, along with Glenn Hoddle and compatriot Ricardo Villa, as a player for Tottenham Hotspur. He notably left England for a period as a result of the outbreak of the Falklands War in 1982, thus missing most of the 1982–83 season.

As manager of Tottenham in the mid-1990s, he famously played several matches utilizing a formation that had five forwards, a formation that hadn't been used in English football since the 1950s, which "Ossie" (or "Pitón", as he is affectively known in his native country) mainly used because of Tottenham's perceived defensive weakness.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Playing career

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.^[2] He began his professional career in Argentina with Instituto de Córdoba, playing also for Club Atlético Belgrano and Huracán. After the 1978 World Cup he moved to England to play for Tottenham where he spent four seasons.

He helped Tottenham win the FA Cup in his third season there (1980-81), and collaborated with pop duo Chas and Dave as well as the rest of the Tottenham players for a song - "Ossie's Dream" - in which he famously pronounced Tottenham as "Tottingham". He played a big part in another FA Cup triumph the following year, but did not play in the final because of hostility by fans towards himself and fellow Argentinian Ricardo Villa in the wake of the Falklands War between Britain and Argentina.

He helped Tottenham win the UEFA Cup in 1984, leaving shortly afterwards to sign for Paris Saint Germain in France. After just one season in Paris, he returned to Tottenham, where he stayed until 1988. In the autumn of 1987, he was caretaker manager of Tottenham between the resignation of David Pleat and the appointment of Terry Venables.

He then played for Blackburn Rovers, Queens Park Rangers F.C. and Swindon Town F.C., 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 Ossie Ardiles, along with his fellow countryman Ricky Villa, was inducted into the Tottenham Hotspur Hall of Fame.^[3]

This section requires expansion.

[edit] Management career

In July 1989, Osvaldo 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 attractive 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.

Just ten months after he had joined, Ardiles led the Town 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 - recreating the atmosphere of the 1978 World Cup, in which Ardiles had starred. 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 cruelly 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 to keep the club alive - and Wembley hero Alan McLoughlin was the first big-money departure. With Swindon obviously rocked by their pre-season nightmare, their form deserted them, and opposition clubs seemed to come to terms with the Town's style of play. By the end of February, relegation threatened, and when Newcastle offered Ardiles the chance to become their new boss, he accepted. 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.

Ardiles was not out of work for long. In June 1992 he 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, Ilie Dumitrescu and Gheorghe Popescu in the 1994 close season, Ardiles was sacked in October 1994 with Tottenham languishing in the bottom half of the Premier League as they paid the price for the manager's tendency to play five forwards at once (usually Klinsmann, Dumitrescu, Teddy Sheringham, Darren Anderton and Nicky Barmby). 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 Japanese side Yokohama F. Marinos in January 2000, but was sacked in June 2001 following a poor start to the season.^[4] From 2003 to 2005 he coached Tokyo Verdy 1969, with whom he won the 2004 Emperor's Cup. But in July 2005 he was fired due , who finished second bottom in the league.^[5] In mid-2006 he moved to Israel to coach Beitar Jerusalem FC, from which he was fired October 18, 2006. After a small 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 ^{[6] [7]}

[edit] Career chronology

• 1969–73 - Instituto de Córdoba
• 1974 - Club Atlético Belgrano
• 1975–78 - Huracán
• 1978–82 - Tottenham Hotspur F.C. (England)
• 1982–83 - Paris Saint Germain (France)
• 1983–88 - Tottenham Hotspur F.C. (England)
• 1988–89 - Blackburn Rovers (England)
• 1989–91 - Swindon Town F.C.(England) (as player manager)
• 1991–92 - Newcastle United (England) (as manager)
• 1992–93 - West Bromwich (England) (as manager, during their promotion from the Second Division)
• 1993–94 - Tottenham Hotspur F.C. (as manager)
• 1995 - Guadalajara (Mexico) (as manager)
• 1996–98 - J-League team Shimizu S-Pulse (as manager, leading them to victory in the Nabisco Cup in 1996)
• 1999 - Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
• 2000–01 - J-League team Yokohama F. Marinos (as manager, leading the team to the J-League first-stage title)
• 2001 - Al-Ittihad (Saudi Arabia) (as manager)
• 2002–03 - Racing Club (Argentina)
• 2003–05 - J-League team Tokyo Verdy 1969
• 2006–07 - Beitar Jerusalem (Israel)
• 2007 - Huracán (Argentina) (as manager)
• 2008 - Cerro Porteño (Paraguay) (as manager)

[edit] Honours

• He won 63 caps for Argentina's national team, including the victorious World Cup winning squad of 1978.
• Osvaldo Ardiles won the FA Cup in 1981 and 1982 and the UEFA Cup in 1984 with Tottenham Hotspur as a player.
• Promoted Swindon Town to old Division One (now Premier League) in 1990 as manager although the team were relegated for financial irregularities.
• Promoted West Bromwich Albion to Division One as manager in 1993.
• Won Nabisco Cup with Shimizu S-Pulse as manager in 1996.
• Won Tokai Cup with Shimizu S-Pulse as manager in 1996 and 1998.
• Named J. League Manager of the Year in 1998.
• Champion J-League First Stage with Yokohama F. Marinos in 2000 as manager.
• Emperor's Cup Winner 2004–05 with Tokyo Verdy 1969 as manager.

[edit] Statistics

[edit] Facts

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (September 2008)

• Ardiles wore the number 1 shirt in the 1982 FIFA World Cup. In 2006 FIFA established the number 1 must be used by a goalkeeper. Argentina numbered their players alphabetically in both 1978 and 1982, with the notable exception of Diego Maradona.^[8][9]
• Married, with two sons Pablo and Federico.
• His cousin, First Lieutenant José Ardiles, was killed in Action during the Falklands War when his Argentine Air Force Dagger was shot down over East Falkland by Flt Lt Penfold RAF using a Sidewinder Missile. 1st. Lt. Ardiles was posthumously promoted to the rank of Captain and Awarded the Argentine Nation to the Valour in Combat Medal.
• He appeared in the film Escape to Victory with Pelé, Bobby Moore and Michael Caine.
• Still has a house in Broxbourne close to Tottenham's ground, as well as Marbella.
• Tottenham's 1981 FA Cup final song (recorded by the Tottenham squad in conjunction with pop duo Chas and Dave) featured Ardiles singing the famous line "In the cup for the Tottingham". (He regularly failed to pronounce "Tottenham" correctly) [1]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Record at Sporting Heros
• Record at Futbol Pasion
• 2006 Interview
• Ossie Ardiles managerial statistics at soccerbase.com
• (Spanish) Futbol Factory profile (Archived)
• Sunday Times article 9 August, 2009

Osvaldo Ardiles international tournaments v • d • e Argentina squad – Copa América 1975 1 Ardiles • 2 Asad • 3 Bóveda • 4 Gallego • 5 Gatti • 6 Kempes • 7 D.Killer • 8 M.Killer • 9 Luque • 10 Pavoni • 11 Pavón • 12 Rebottaro • 13 Valdano • 14 Valencia • 15 Zanabria • Coach: Menotti v • d • e Argentina squad – 1978 FIFA World Cup Winners (1st Title) 1 Alonso • 2 Ardiles • 3 Baley • 4 Bertoni • 5 Fillol • 6 Gallego • 7 L. Galván • 8 R. Galván • 9 Houseman • 10 Kempes • 11 Killer • 12 Larrosa • 13 Lavolpe • 14 Luque • 15 Olguín • 16 Ortiz • 17 Oviedo • 18 Pagnanini • 19 Passarella • 20 Tarantini • 21 Valencia • 22 Villa • Coach: Menotti v • d • e Argentina squad – 1982 FIFA World Cup 1 Ardiles • 2 Baley • 3 Barbas • 4 Bertoni • 5 Calderón • 6 Díaz • 7 Fillol • 8 Galván • 9 Gallego • 10 Maradona • 11 Kempes • 12 Hernández • 13 Olarticoechea • 14 Olguín • 15 Passarella • 16 Pumpido • 17 Santamaría • 18 Tarantini • 19 Trossero • 20 Valdano • 21 Valencia • 22 Van Tuyne • Coach: Menotti