Oscar Alberto Dertycia Álvarez (born 3 March 1965) is an Argentine former

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 lea ...

who played as a striker and later worked as a coach.

Club career

Born in Córdoba, Córdoba Province, Dertycia started playing at professional level with hometown club Instituto de Córdoba before moving in 1985 to

Argentinos Juniors Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its association football, football team, which currently plays in the Argentine Primera División, and was reco ...

. During his four-year spell, he won the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

and finished runner-up in the Intercontinental Cup in his first season

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

. Dertycia was also crowned the Primera División's top scorer in 1988–89, finishing with 20 goals. In the following summer, Dertycia joined Italian club

ACF Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

, playing with

Roberto Baggio Roberto Baggio (; born 18 February 1967) is an Italian former professional footballer who mainly played as a second striker, or as an attacking midfielder, although he was capable of playing in several offensive positions. He is the former pr ...

and Dunga. After finding some form following a difficult start, a serious knee injury sustained in a clash with compatriot

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

in January 1990 ended his season early, while in his absence the team reached the final of the

1989–90 UEFA Cup The 1989–90 UEFA Cup was the 19th season of the UEFA Cup, the secondary club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The final was played over two legs at the Stadio Comunale Vittorio Pozzo, Turi ...

. Only three foreign players were allowed to play in each match, and the club filled Dertycia's vacant slot with

Marius Lăcătuș Marius Mihai Lăcătuș (; born 5 April 1964) is a Romanian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player. He is the most successful footballer of CSA Steaua București (football), Steaua ...

(a year later ''La Viola'' signed another Argentine with similar attributes,

Gabriel Batistuta Gabriel Omar Batistuta (; born 1 February 1969) is an Argentine former professional Association football, footballer. During his playing career, Batistuta was nicknamed Batigol () as well as El Ángel Gabriel (; Spanish for ''Archangel Gabriel, A ...

, to lead the attack to great effect). Without prospect of another opportunity at Fiorentina, Dertycia first transferred to Spanish club

Cádiz CF Cádiz Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish professional football club based in Cádiz, Andalusia. Founded in 1910, the club competes in Segunda División, holding home games at Nuevo Mirandilla, with a seating capacity of 20,724. Salvadoran ...

where he garnered a firm fanbase, being nicknamed '' Mister Proper'' due to the distinctive bald head he has worn since retirement. (his body's reaction to the stress caused by the injury in Italy combined with the demands of a young family in a new country). He moved to

CD Tenerife Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1922, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez L� ...

in 1991 as a replacement for Rommel Fernández, being a useful offensive footballer for said

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

club under compatriots

Jorge Valdano Jorge Alberto Francisco Valdano Castellanos (born 4 October 1955) is an Argentine former football player, coach, and the former general manager of Real Madrid. He is currently working as a commentator for beIN Sports. Nicknamed "The Philosophe ...

, Diego Latorre, and Fernando Redondo. Having never been an undisputed starter, Dertycia scored 16

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

goals in his first two seasons combined, being intimately connected to the second of Tenerife's final defeats of

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

in consecutive seasons which handed the championship to rivals

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

on both occasions. Dertycia had one final season in the country – still in the top flight, where he went on to amass totals of 137 games and 39 goals with

Albacete Balompié Albacete Balompié is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Albacete, in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. Founded on 5 July 1939, it currently plays in Segunda División, the second tier of Spanish foo ...

. He returned to his native Córdoba to play in

Primera B Nacional Primera Nacional (usually called simply Nacional B, (English "National B Division"), and known as Primera B Nacional until the 2019–20 season) is the second division of the Argentine football league system. The competition is made up of 38 team ...

. After short spells, including in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

and

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, Dertycia retired in 2002 at the age of 37. He later worked as club coach and at a children's training academy in Córdoba.

International career

After appearing with the Argentine under-20 team at the

1983 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1983 FIFA World Youth Championship was the fourth edition FIFA World Youth Championship tournament, hosted from 2 June to 19 June 1983 in seven venues in Mexico — Guadalajara, Irapuato, León, Mexico City, Monterrey, Puebla and Toluca — w ...

, scoring once to help his country reach the final, In 1984, Dertycia received his first

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

call-up under

Carlos Bilardo Dr. Carlos Salvador Bilardo (born 16 March 1938) is an Argentine former physician, football player, and manager. Bilardo achieved worldwide renown as a player with Estudiantes de La Plata in the 1960s, and as the manager of the Argentina side t ...

, and debuted in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

the same year. He went on to score his first goal in the same tournament that year, this time against

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. Dertycia was a member of the

1987 Copa América The 1987 Copa América was the 33rd edition of the Copa América, CONMEBOL's national team competition. It was the first Copa América under the new rotational hosting system. Argentina, as the first country alphabetically, hosted the tournament ...

squad that finished the tournament in fourth place. He was named in the Argentine preliminary squad for the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...

in Italy, but an injury while playing there at club level resulted in his name getting cut from the final tournament.

Style of play

An aggressive and physically strong player, Dertycia was a powerful, quick and opportunistic

centre-forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

with an eye for goal, excellent positional sense and who excelled in the air. He was also a hard-working player who was adept at making attacking runs, and could play off of his team-mates as well as provide them with assists; these capabilities also enabled him to be deployed as a

second striker In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bein ...

throughout his career.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dertycia, Oscar 1965 births Living people Footballers from Córdoba, Argentina Argentine men's footballers Men's association football forwards Argentine Primera División players Instituto Atlético Central Córdoba footballers Argentinos Juniors footballers Club Atlético Belgrano footballers Talleres de Córdoba footballers General Paz Juniors footballers Serie A players ACF Fiorentina players La Liga players Cádiz CF players CD Tenerife players Albacete Balompié players Deportes Temuco footballers Argentina men's youth international footballers Argentina men's under-20 international footballers Argentina men's international footballers 1987 Copa América players Argentine expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Chile Expatriate men's footballers in Peru Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Peru Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Chile Argentine football coaches People with alopecia universalis Pan American Games bronze medalists for Argentina Pan American Games footballers for Argentina Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games Footballers at the 1987 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists in football 20th-century Argentine sportsmen