Cristóbal Ortega Martínez (born 25 July 1956) is a Mexican 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 for América in the Mexican Primera División from 1974 to 1992. He played as a

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 ...

. He also played for Mexico's national team, including playing in the World Cups of

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 – ...

and

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 ...

- he earned 24 caps in his international career.

Club career

On 5 October 1974, Cristóbal Ortega made his debut for

Club América Club de Fútbol América S.A. de C.V., commonly known as Club América or simply América, is a professional football club based in Mexico City. Nicknamed ''Las Águilas'' (The Eagles), it competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football. ...

against Ciudad Madero. In his Primera Liga debut on 8 June 1975, Ortega scored his first goal against

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

- so began an 18-year career in which he remained in the Club América midfield.

won league titles in the seasons 75-76, 83-84, 84-85, Prode 85, 87-88 and 88-89. The club won three Supercups, in 1976, 1988–89; three

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; types ...

Cup titles in 1978, 1987, and 1991; and the Interamerican Cup in 1991. Ortega retired in the middle of the 1991-92 season. In his final game for

, on 15 December 1991 at

Santos Laguna Club Santos Laguna S.A. de C.V. (), commonly known as Santos Laguna or Santos, is a Mexican professional football club that competes in the Liga MX. It is located in northern Mexico and represents the urban area of La Comarca Lagunera, made u ...

, he started and was substituted at the start of the second half by manager

Isaac Terrazas Isaac Terrazas García (born 23 January 1973) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a defender. He played for Mexico national team and was a participant at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, also being in the Mexico squad that won ...

; he scored his last goal three years prior on January 3, 1988 against

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul or simply Cruz Azul () is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in the Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Because "azul" means "blue" in Spanish, the club has traditionally ...

. In his career at

, Ortega played in 711 games, including a team-record 75 playoff games.

International career

Ortega played in 24 games for

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

and scored four goals. He played in the World Cups of

and

Honours

América * Méxican Primera División: 1975–76, 1983–84, 1984–85, Prode-1985, 1987–88, 1988–89 *

Campeón de Campeones ''Campeón de Campeones'' ( es, Champion of Champions) is an annual Mexican football competition established in 1942. In its current form, the winner of the Apertura season faces the winner of the Clausura season, for both Liga MX and Liga MX Feme ...

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phil ...

, 1988,

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker ru ...

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 ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrati ...

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airpor ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Mexico *

CONCACAF Championship The CONCACAF Championship was an association football tournament that took place between 1963 and 1989. The competition is sometimes referred to as CONCACAF Campeonato de Naciones. The first Championship took place in 1963 and was CONCACAF's firs ...

Individual * Mexican Primera División Golden Ball: 1982–83

References

Cristobal Ortega trabaja para que sus Albinegros sean contundentes
(Spanish; article dated January 22, 2009)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ortega, Cristobal Living people Club América footballers 1956 births Footballers from Mexico City 1978 FIFA World Cup players 1986 FIFA World Cup players Mexico international footballers Association football midfielders Mexican footballers Liga MX players CONCACAF Championship-winning players