Ariel Ortega: the fallen angel
Perhaps the greatest curse an Argentinean (bar Lionel Messi) footballer can receive is to be compared by Maradona himself.
Remember D’Alessandro? The promising talent was hailed as the next Maradona until he succumbed under great expectations and saw his career go down the drain.
But long before D’Alessandro came into the spotlight, another Argentine had already drawn comparisons to the ‘Hand of God’ possessing Argentine. It was Ariel Ortega. The ‘New Maradona’ came long before Leo Messi was out of his nappies.
The 20 year old was drafted by Alfio Basile in the Argentina squad for the 1994 USA World Cup and was regarded as the best replacement for Maradona who was sent home in utter disgrace when he failed a drug test. Ariel Ortega made his first start for Argentina
in the round of 16 against Romania but sadly, Argentina was eliminated.
World Cup France 98 was the event that made Ortega a star. He was given the revered and sacred number 10 jersey after impressing with Riverplate and then moving to Spanish side Valencia.
The 24 year old showed that he had obvious skill and great ability to spearhead the Argentinean attack but there was another side to his game that wasn’t famous yet.
The lack of discipline in the Quarter Final against Netherlands was the turning point of his career. Ortega dived in the Dutch penalty box and was confronted by Edwin Van der Sar who received a headbutt from the Argentine which forced the referee to give
Ariel his marching orders. Dennis Bergkamp eventually scored the winner for the Dutch as Argentina was shown the door.
Ariel followed the footsteps of Maradona and moved to Italy despite his hot headedness and signed for Sampdoria for 8.5 million pounds. Sampdoria was relegated in Ortega’s first season and he moved to Parma for a slightly higher fee. But he managed to score
only 3 times in 18 games which resulted in him being sold back to Riverplate in 2000. Slowly, Ortega disappeared from the European club radar.
But 23 goals in 56 games saw European clubs take interest in the Riverplate man again and he surprisingly moved to Turkey to play for Fenerbahce.
In April 2003, the Turkish side filed a complaint to FIFA when Ortega failed to return from International duty at Amsterdam, a game that proved to be his last for the country.
Ortega was later found guilty of breaching his contract with Fenerbahce and received a 4 month ban and was ordered to pay the club $ 11 million for the damages.
When his ban was lifted in the start of 2004, Ariel Ortega was again drawing comparisons with Diego Maradona but this time, the comparisons were for all the wrong reasons.
He returned to River Plate after 2 years at Newell’s Old Boys but the ‘New Maradona’ never got back to his old form that made him a hot prospect all over the world. Later in the summer of 2006, it was announced that the controversial man had entered rehabilitation
for alcoholism.
In the coming years, Ortega went through rehab time and time again and last year, the fallen angel was loaned to Second Divison side Independiente Rivadavia in Argentina. A clause on his contract indicates that Ariel Ortega is to attend a twice a week treatment
for alcoholism. The 36 year old Ortega’s career in coming to an end slowly but the Great One himself gave the ageing Argentine another chance when he included him in the national squad for a friendly against Haiti that was organized to raise money for the
Haiti earthquake affectees.
He could have been a truly great player but had to bear the massive burden of being the ‘New Maradona’ throughout his career which arguably had reverse effects on his personality. Hopefully though, the same doesn’t happen with all those future Argentine
prodigies who will inevitably be christened ‘The New Maradona’.
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