Oscar Alfredo Ruggeri (born 26 January 1962) is an Argentine former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. Nicknamed ''El Cabezón'' ("The Big-Headed One"), Ruggeri achieved success at the international level with the Argentina national team, being part of the teams that won the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia ha ...

, two editions of the

Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...

and the 1992 King Fahd Cup. At the club level, Ruggeri's most successful stint was with Argentine club River Plate, where he won the

1986 Copa Libertadores The 1986 Copa Libertadores was the 27th edition of the Copa Libertadores, CONMEBOL's annual international club tournament. River Plate won the competition for the first time ever. Group stage Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 ...

(also the club's first win in this tournament) the

1986 Copa Interamericana The 1986 Copa Interamericana was the 10th staging of this competition. The final took place between River Plate (Winners of the 1986 Copa Libertadores) and L.D. Alajuelense (winners of the 1986 CONCACAF Champions' Cup) and was staged over two le ...

and the

1986 Intercontinental Cup The 1986 Intercontinental Cup was an association football match played on 14 December 1986 between River Plate of Argentina, winners of the 1986 Copa Libertadores, and Steaua București of Romania, winners of the 1985–86 European Cup. The matc ...

. Known for his rough style of play when marking opposing players and aerial ability, Ruggeri is considered one of the all-time best defenders to come out of Argentina. Following his retirement as a player, Ruggeri turned to managing, where he held posts in Argentina, Mexico and Spain. His last job as a manager was in 2006 with Argentine club

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Lawrence of Rome, Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Monte San Lorenzo, a mountain on t ...

. Since then, Ruggeri went on to have a career on Argentine television, as commentator on football shows. He is currently a member of ''90 Minutos de Fútbol'', which airs in Fox Sports Latin America.

Career

Ruggeri started his career at

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

, playing with

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FI ...

, with whom he won a league title in 1981. In 1985, he moved to rivals River Plate, where he won the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

, the Intercontinental Cup and another league title in 1986. In 1988, he left for Europe where he played for Spanish clubs Logroñes and

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

, where he won yet another league championship. He also played for Vélez Sarsfield,

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic ...

in Italy, América in Mexico,

and

Lanús Lanús () is the capital of Lanús Partido, Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. It lies just south of the capital city Buenos Aires, in the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area. The city has a population of 212,152 (), and the Partido de Lan� ...

, where he ended his career. During his career he represented his country in three World Cups, captaining Argentina in the final two games of the 1994 competition, after Diego Maradona was expelled from the tournament. Ruggeri was also a key piece in the Argentina teams that won the trophy in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

and lost the final to

West-Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

. After losing to

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

in the

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson Ma ...

tournament, Ruggeri retired from international football having played 97 international games, an Argentine record until it was surpassed by

Diego Simeone Diego Pablo Simeone González (; ; born 28 April 1970, nicknamed El Cholo (), is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder; he has been the manager of Atlético Madrid since December 2011. In his cl ...

Personal life

Ruggeri's son,

Stephan Stephan may refer to: * Stephan, South Dakota, United States * Stephan (given name), a masculine given name * Stephan (surname), a Breton-language surname See also * Sankt-Stephan * Stefan (disambiguation) * Stephan-Oterma * Stephani * St ...

, is a professional footballer. Ruggeri himself appeared on the 2016 edition of

Bailando por un Sueño ''Bailando por un Sueño'' is a franchised TV series in various Latin American countries. Meaning "Dancing for a dream", it is a reality series that commenced on the Mexican television network Canal de las Estrellas, in which celebrities are part ...

with his daughter,

Candela The candela ( or ; symbol: cd) is the unit of luminous intensity in the International System of Units (SI). It measures luminous power per unit solid angle emitted by a light source in a particular direction. Luminous intensity is analogous t ...

Career statistics

Honours

Club

Boca Juniors *

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). T ...

: 1981 Metropolitano River Plate *

: 1985–86 *

* Intercontinental Cup:

Copa Interamericana The Copa Interamericana ( en, Interamerican Cup) was an annual club football competition contested between a representative from North America (CONCACAF) and South America ( CONMEBOL). Established in 1969, it was discontinued in 1998 after CONCA ...

Real Madrid *

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' ...

: 1989–90 América *

CONCACAF Champions' Cup The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engines ...

San Lorenzo *

: 1995 Clausura

International

Argentina *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the ' (FIFA), the ...

; runner-up:

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the ...

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships (AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL ...

Kirin Cup The is an association football tournament organised in Japan by the Kirin Brewery Company. The host, Japan, is a participant in every edition. The tournament was founded in 1978 then known as Japan Cup (International competition which nation ...

: 1992

Individual

*South American Team of the Year: 1986, 1991 * La Liga Foreign Player of the Year: 1989 * Footballer of the Year of Argentina: 1991 *

South American Footballer of the Year The Rey del Fútbol de América ("King of Football of America"), often referred to as the South American Footballer of the Year, is an annual association football award presented to the best footballer in South America over the previous calendar ...

: 1991 *

Olimpia Award The Olimpia Awards ( es, Premios Olimpia) are Argentine sports awards given annually by the ' (Association of Sports Journalists) since 1954. An ' (Silver Olimpia) is awarded to the outstanding performer in 41 sports. Among the ' winners an ' ...

: 1991 * FIFA XI: 1991FIFA XI´s Matches - Full Info
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References

External links

Sports Illustrated on Ruggeri

Oscar Ruggeri – Managerial statistics in the Argentine Primera
at Fútbol XXI * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruggeri, Oscar Alfredo 1962 births Living people Argentine footballers Boca Juniors footballers Club América footballers Club Atlético River Plate footballers A.C. Ancona players Serie A players Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield footballers San Lorenzo de Almagro footballers La Liga players Real Madrid CF players CD Logroñés footballers Argentine expatriate footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Mexico FIFA World Cup-winning players Argentina international footballers 1986 FIFA World Cup players 1987 Copa América players 1989 Copa América players 1990 FIFA World Cup players 1991 Copa América players 1992 King Fahd Cup players 1993 Copa América players 1994 FIFA World Cup players FIFA Confederations Cup-winning players Sportspeople from Córdoba Province, Argentina Argentine football managers San Lorenzo de Almagro managers Club Atlético Independiente managers Club América managers C.D. Guadalajara managers Tecos F.C. managers Elche CF managers Argentine Primera División players Liga MX players Argentine people of Italian descent Expatriate football managers in Mexico Expatriate football managers in Spain South American Footballer of the Year winners Copa América-winning players Association football defenders Participants in Argentine reality television series Bailando por un Sueño (Argentine TV series) participants