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Osvaldo Ardiles
Osvaldo Ardiles (1981).jpg
Ardiles with Tottenham Hotspur in 1981
Personal information
Full name Osvaldo César Ardiles
Date of birth (1952-08-03) 3 August 1952 (age 72)
Place of birth Córdoba, Argentina
Height 1.70 m
Playing position Central midfielder
Youth career
Instituto de Córdoba
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1973 Instituto de Córdoba 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 FC (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)
National team
1975–1982 Argentina 51 (8)
Teams managed
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 SC Aleppo
2002–2003 Racing Club
2003–2005 Tokyo Verdy
2006 Beitar Jerusalem
2007 Huracán
2008 Cerro Porteño
2012 FC Machida Zelvia
2013 Malaysia
Honours
  • Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Osvaldo César Ardiles (born 3 August 1952), often referred to in Britain as Ossie Ardiles, is an Argentine football manager, pundit and former midfielder who won the 1978 FIFA World Cup as part of the Argentina national team.

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.

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. As manager of Spurs in the mid-1990s, he played several matches utilizing a formation that had five forwards, a formation that had not been used in English football since the 1960s. 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.

Club career

Ardiles was born in Córdoba, and played for Instituto de Córdoba from a young age. 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. 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.

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 the 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. 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.

International career

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. 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.

Management career

Oswaldo Ardiles
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. 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. In mid-2006 he moved to Israel to coach Beitar Jerusalem, from which 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 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 but was sacked in August of the same year after a string of poor results and was replaced by Pedro Troglio.

Media career

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

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

Personal life

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

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. Ardiles sustained minor injuries in the accident, and required more than 20 stitches in his head.

Career statistics

Club

Ardiles villa fa cup
Ardiles with teammate Ricardo Villa posing with the FA Cup trophy, May 1981
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
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

Bertoni ardiles kempes
Ardiles (center) with Daniel Bertoni (left) and Mario Kempes (right) in 1981
Appearances and goals by national team and year
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

Team Nat From To Record
G W D L Win %
Swindon Town 1989 1991 &&&&&&&&&&&&&095.&&&&&095 &&&&&&&&&&&&&032.&&&&&032 &&&&&&&&&&&&&033.&&&&&033 &&&&&&&&&&&&&030.&&&&&030 &&&&&&&&&&&&&033.68000033.68
Newcastle United 1991 1992 &&&&&&&&&&&&&052.&&&&&052 &&&&&&&&&&&&&012.&&&&&012 &&&&&&&&&&&&&018.&&&&&018 &&&&&&&&&&&&&022.&&&&&022 &&&&&&&&&&&&&023.&8000023.08
West Bromwich Albion 1992 1993 &&&&&&&&&&&&&055.&&&&&055 &&&&&&&&&&&&&030.&&&&&030 &&&&&&&&&&&&&011.&&&&&011 &&&&&&&&&&&&&014.&&&&&014 &&&&&&&&&&&&&054.55000054.55
Tottenham Hotspur 1993 1994 &&&&&&&&&&&&&056.&&&&&056 &&&&&&&&&&&&&017.&&&&&017 &&&&&&&&&&&&&014.&&&&&014 &&&&&&&&&&&&&025.&&&&&025 &&&&&&&&&&&&&030.36000030.36
Guadalajara 1995 1995 &&&&&&&&&&&&&019.&&&&&019 &&&&&&&&&&&&&&07.&&&&&07 &&&&&&&&&&&&&&07.&&&&&07 &&&&&&&&&&&&&&05.&&&&&05 &&&&&&&&&&&&&036.84000036.84
Shimizu S-Pulse 1996 1998 &&&&&&&&&&&&0124.&&&&&0124 &&&&&&&&&&&&&072.&&&&&072 &&&&&&&&&&&&&&07.&&&&&07 &&&&&&&&&&&&&045.&&&&&045 &&&&&&&&&&&&&058.&6000058.06
Croatia Zagreb 1999 1999 &&&&&&&&&&&&&019.&&&&&019 &&&&&&&&&&&&&&09.&&&&&09 &&&&&&&&&&&&&&05.&&&&&05 &&&&&&&&&&&&&&05.&&&&&05 &&&&&&&&&&&&&047.37000047.37
Yokohama F. Marinos 2000 2001 &&&&&&&&&&&&&040.&&&&&040 &&&&&&&&&&&&&021.&&&&&021 &&&&&&&&&&&&&&02.&&&&&02 &&&&&&&&&&&&&017.&&&&&017 &&&&&&&&&&&&&052.50000052.50
Racing Club 2002 2003 &&&&&&&&&&&&&059.&&&&&059 &&&&&&&&&&&&&025.&&&&&025 &&&&&&&&&&&&&016.&&&&&016 &&&&&&&&&&&&&018.&&&&&018 &&&&&&&&&&&&&042.37000042.37
Tokyo Verdy 2003 2005 &&&&&&&&&&&&&067.&&&&&067 &&&&&&&&&&&&&022.&&&&&022 &&&&&&&&&&&&&020.&&&&&020 &&&&&&&&&&&&&025.&&&&&025 &&&&&&&&&&&&&032.84000032.84
Beitar Jerusalem 2006 2006 &&&&&&&&&&&&&&07.&&&&&07 &&&&&&&&&&&&&&03.&&&&&03 &&&&&&&&&&&&&&02.&&&&&02 &&&&&&&&&&&&&&02.&&&&&02 &&&&&&&&&&&&&042.86000042.86
Huracán 2007 2007 &&&&&&&&&&&&&012.&&&&&012 &&&&&&&&&&&&&&05.&&&&&05 &&&&&&&&&&&&&&04.&&&&&04 &&&&&&&&&&&&&&03.&&&&&03 &&&&&&&&&&&&&041.67000041.67
FC Machida Zelvia 2012 2012 &&&&&&&&&&&&&042.&&&&&042 &&&&&&&&&&&&&&07.&&&&&07 &&&&&&&&&&&&&011.&&&&&011 &&&&&&&&&&&&&024.&&&&&024 &&&&&&&&&&&&&016.67000016.67
Total &&&&&&&&&&&&0642.&&&&&0642 &&&&&&&&&&&&0257.&&&&&0257 &&&&&&&&&&&&0150.&&&&&0150 &&&&&&&&&&&&0235.&&&&&0235 &&&&&&&&&&&&&040.&3000040.03

Honours

Player

Huracán

Tottenham Hotspur

Argentina

Individual

Manager

Swindon Town

West Bromwich Albion

Shimizu S-Pulse

  • Nabisco Cup: 1996

Yokohama F. Marinos

  • J-League first stage: 2000

Tokyo Verdy

Individual

  • J. League Manager of the Year: 1998

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Osvaldo Ardiles para niños

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