Ariel Miguel Santiago Ibagaza (born 27 October 1976) is an Argentine professional football

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

and former player. Nicknamed ''El Caño'', his usual position was

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, and he was well known for his technique and vision. He spent the vast majority of his professional career in Spain – where he represented mainly Mallorca – and amassing

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

totals of 343 matches and 33 goals over 12 seasons.

Playing career

Born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, Ibagaza began his professional career with

Club Atlético Lanús Club Atlético Lanús () is an Argentine sports club from the Lanús district of Greater Buenos Aires. Founded in 1915, the club's main sports are football and basketball. In both sports, Lanús plays in Argentina's top divisions: Primera Divis ...

, and moved in July 1998 to RCD Mallorca in Spain alongside teammate Gustavo Siviero (another Argentine, Carlos Roa, had done the same move the previous season), being part of the Balearic Islands side that finished third in his first year, narrowly missing on

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

group stage entry. In the 2000–01 campaign Ibagaza, best known for his playmaking decisions, scored a career-best ten goals, and continued to be an undisputed starter – and

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

– for Mallorca until his departure for Atlético Madrid, in July 2003. He renewed his contract in March 2006, but found himself surplus to requirements at the start of 2006–07, and arranged a move back to Mallorca, being among the top assisters in the second season after the return. Ibagaza signed a

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1.5 million deal with

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Vila-real Club de Futbol, S.A.D.), usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or simply Villarreal, is a professional football club based in Villarreal, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, ...

in early July 2008, for two seasons. Two years later, after two irregular seasons, marred by some physical problems (even though he still managed to appear in more than 60 official games with the

Valencian Valencian () or Valencian language () is the official, historical and traditional name used in the Valencian Community (Spain), and unofficially in the El Carche comarca in Murcia (Spain), to refer to the Romance language also known as Catal ...

team), the 34-year-old moved to Olympiacos F.C. in Greece, agreeing to a two-year deal. Ibagaza scored his first official goal for the

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saron ...

club in a 1–0 away win against Asteras Tripoli FC, and went on to contribute with 24 matches (no goals) as his team won the

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

. He left in June 2014 after 97 competitive appearances and a further three domestic leagues and, on 20 August of that year, signed for one year with fellow league side Panionios FC.

Managerial career

Ibagaza managed Olympiacos B for season 2021–22 in Super League Greece 2.

Honours

Lanús *

Copa CONMEBOL The Copa CONMEBOL ( en, CONMEBOL Cup) was an annual football cup competition organized by CONMEBOL between 1992 and 1999 for South American football clubs. During its time of existence, it was a very prestigious South American club football contes ...

: 1996 Mallorca *

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

: 2002–03 Olympiacos * Super League Greece:

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, 2011–12,

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 2013–14 *

Greek Football Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most imp ...

: 2011–12,

Argentina *

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 whe ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

Individual

* Super League Greece Player of the Year:

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ibagaza, Ariel 1976 births Living people Footballers from Buenos Aires Argentine footballers Association football midfielders Argentine Primera División players Club Atlético Lanús footballers La Liga players RCD Mallorca players Atlético Madrid footballers Villarreal CF players Super League Greece players Olympiacos F.C. players Panionios F.C. players Argentina youth international footballers Argentina under-20 international footballers Argentina international footballers Argentine expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Greece Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Greece