Fernando Ortiz (footballer, born 1977)

Fernando Ortiz
Personal information
Date of birth (1977-12-25) 25 December 1977 (age 47)
Place of birth Corral de Bustos, Argentina
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Team information
Current team
 Santos Laguna (head coach)
Youth career
Sportivo Corral de Bustos
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2001 Boca Juniors 3 (2)
1999 → Mallorca B (loan) 13 (0)
1999–2000 → San Lorenzo (loan) 22 (0)
2000–2001 → Unión (loan) 30 (1)
2001–2004 Unión 57 (1)
2003–2004 → Banfield (loan) 38 (4)
2004–2006 Estudiantes LP 79 (5)
2007–2008 Santos Laguna 80 (6)
2009–2010 América 15 (1)
2009–2010 → Tigres UANL (loan) 21 (0)
2010–2012 Vélez Sársfield 59 (2)
2012–2014 Racing 45 (2)
Total 462 (24)
Managerial career
2016 Estudiantes (B-team)
2017 Sol de América
2018 Sportivo Luqueño
2018 Sol de América
2022 América (under-20)
2022 América (Interim)
2022–2023 América
2023–2024 Monterrey
2025– Santos Laguna
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Fernando Damián Ortiz (born 25 December 1977) is an Argentine professional football manager and former footballer. He is the current head coach of Liga MX club Santos Laguna.

Playing career

Ortiz was spotted by Argentine giants Boca Juniors in 1997. He made his debut in 1998, and helped Boca to win the Primera División 1998 Apertura championship. He played eight games for Boca in all competitions, scoring three goals.

In 1999, he was loaned to RCD Mallorca in Spain, where he played half-a-season for their B team (RCD Mallorca B). He returned that same year to Argentina to play for San Lorenzo. Subsequently, he had spells at Unión de Santa Fe and Banfield, before joining Estudiantes de La Plata in 2004.

Ortiz helped Estudiantes to win the 2006 Apertura. He was a starter in the championship playoff played against his former club Boca Juniors on 13 December, that Estudiantes won 2–1. Shortly after being crowned champion in Argentina, Ortiz signed with Mexican side Santos Laguna along with other players in order to help the team avoid relegation. He left Santos Laguna to join Club América on 17 December 2008.

In August 2010, Ortiz returned to Argentina to play for Vélez Sársfield.[1][2] Ortiz was a regular starter along Sebastián Domínguez in Vélez Sársfield's centre back during his two-year stay at the club, in which he won with the team the 2011 Clausura and reached the semifinals of the 2011 Copa Libertadores and quarter-finals of the 2012 Copa Libertadores.

Aged 34, Ortiz did not renew his contract with Vélez after it expired in June 2012, signing instead for Racing. However, despite a "free agent", Racing had to pay a fee to Sud América, a proxy club for an unknown third parties. Racing received a warning for the transfer.[3] After not being able to fully recover from a knee injury, he officially announced his retirement in 2014, and began his studies to become a coach.[4]

Managerial career

Early career

Ortiz began his managerial career in 2016, being in charge of the Estudiantes reserve side. His first role as manager of a senior squad came the following year, being appointed manager of Paraguayan side Sol de América. He had a brief stint with Sportivo Luqueño in 2018 before returning to Sol de América that same year.

Mexico

In January 2022, Ortiz moved to Mexico and was announced as the new head coach of the Club América Under-20 side.[5] On 3 March, Ortiz was appointed interim manager of the first team following the dismissal of Santiago Solari.[6] On 21 May 2023, after losing in the semifinals to Chivas, Ortiz said, "As far as my staff and I are concerned, this is the end of an era here at Club America."

On 29 May 2023, Monterrey appointed Ortiz as their new manager.[7] On 6 August 2024, Ortiz was dismissed from his position following an underwhelming group stage exit from the Leagues Cup.[8]

On 23 November 2024, Santos Laguna announced Ortiz as their new head coach for the upcoming tournament.[9]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 3 August 2024
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nat From To Record Ref
P W D L Win %
Sol de América Paraguay 2 January 2017 13 August 2017 30 10 12 8 033.3 [10]
Sportivo Luqueño Paraguay 4 April 2018 29 May 2018 9 2 1 6 022.2 [10]
Sol de América Paraguay 5 June 2018 25 August 2018 10 2 4 4 020.0 [10]
América U20 Mexico 5 January 2022 3 March 2022 5 2 1 2 040.0 [10]
América Mexico 3 March 2022 21 May 2023 55 32 14 9 058.2
Monterrey Mexico 29 May 2023 6 August 2024 61 35 11 15 057.4
Santos Laguna Mexico 23 November 2024 present 0 0 0 0 !—
Total 170 83 43 44 048.8

Honours

Club

Boca Juniors
Estudiantes LP
Santos Laguna
Vélez Sársfield

Individual

References

  1. ^ Gabriel Martínez (3 August 2010). "El Fondo tiene cara nueva" (in Spanish). Vélez Sársfield official website. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  2. ^ "Ortiz ya está en el Fortín". Olé (in Spanish). 4 August 2010. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  3. ^ CAS ruling
  4. ^ "Se retiró Ortiz". Olé (in Spanish). 5 August 2014.
  5. ^ "América: Fernando Ortiz dirigirá al Sub 20 de las Águilas" (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  6. ^ "Oficial: tras la salida de Solari, otro argentino tomará el cargo en América". Olé (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  7. ^ "Oficial: Fernando 'Tano' Ortiz es el nuevo técnico de Monterrey". TUDN (in Spanish). 29 May 2023.
  8. ^ "Rayados anuncia el cese de Fernando 'Tano' Ortiz". ESPN México (in Spanish). 6 August 2024.
  9. ^ "Fernando Ortiz llega a Santos como nuevo director técnico". ESPN México (in Spanish). 23 November 2024.
  10. ^ a b c d Pacheco, Enrique. "Club América: Fernando Ortíz, un técnico con historial 'perdedor', el bombero de las Águilas" (in Spanish). SoyFútbol. Retrieved 3 March 2022.