Néstor Ezequiel "Johnny" Ortigoza (; born 7 October 1984) is a 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 lea ...

who last played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

San Lorenzo de Almagro Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro is an Argentine professional sports club based in the Boedo neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its football team, which plays in the Primera División, the first tier of the Argentine foot ...

. Born in Argentina, he played for the Paraguay national team.

Club career

Ortigoza started his career in 2004 at Argentinos Juniors. In 2005, he had a brief loan spell with Nueva Chicago before returning to Argentinos. In 2007, he began to establish himself as an important member of the first team squad and in 2009 he became a near permanent fixture in the first team squad after the appointment of Claudio Borghi as the manager of Argentinos Juniors. Ortigoza was an important member of the Argentinos Juniors team that won the Clausura 2010 championship. He played in 17 of the club's 19 games and scored 3 goals during their championship winning campaign been their captain and was selected Footballer of the Year in Argentina. In 2011, San Lorenzo bought Ortigoza from Argentinos Juniors for $2,200,000 on a three-year contract. In July 2012, Ortigoza signed a one-year loan contract with

Emirates Club Emirates Club () is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. They play in the UAE Pro League after being promoted from the UAE First Division League. They play their home game ...

in the United Arab Emirates. In December 2017, Ortigoza signed with

Rosario Central Club Atlético Rosario Central (), more commonly referred to as Rosario Central, or simply Central, is a sports club based in Rosario, Argentina, that plays in the Argentine Primera División. The club was officially founded on 24 December 1889, ...

from Olimpia. After a half year at

Estudiantes de Río Cuarto Asociación Atlética Estudiantes (usually known as Estudiantes de Río Cuarto) is an Argentinian sports club located in the city of Río Cuarto, Córdoba Province. Although many sports are practised at the club, it is mostly known for its footb ...

, it was rumoured that Ortigoza had moved to Bolivian club Club Atlético Ciclón in September 2020. However, Ortigoza still stayed at Estudiantes before returning to San Lorenzo in 2021.

International career

Ortigoza's father is Paraguayan, meaning that the Paraguay national team's coach

Gerardo Martino Gerardo Daniel "Tata" Martino (born 20 November 1962) is an Argentine professional football coach and former player who last coached Major League Soccer club Inter Miami. Martino played mostly for Newell's Old Boys in his native Rosario. He ...

had the interest of Ortigoza playing for Paraguay due to Ortigoza is entitled to request Paraguayan citizenship. On 8 April 2009, Ortigoza obtained Paraguayan nationality, which enabled him to play for the Paraguay national team. He was subsequently called up for the

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation – the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oc ...

matches against

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

and

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 ...

, as well as the main tournament. On 14 October 2014, he scored his first goal in a 2–1 away defeat to

China PR China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the second-most populous country after India, representing 17.4% of the world population. China spans the e ...

in a friendly.

Style of play

Néstor Ortigoza is known for stocky, physical build, and his ability to win the ball as a central midfielder. His range of distribution and his slow-paced, intelligent, precise passing game also enable him to influence games from deeper positions in midfield, where he can set the tempo of his team's play and orchestrate attacking moves. He is also a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

specialist.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Paraguay's goal tally first.''

Honours

Argentinos Juniors *

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...

: 2010 Clausura Emirates Club * UAE First Division League: 2012–13 San Lorenzo *

: 2013 Inicial *

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 ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

* Supercopa Argentina:

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Rosario Central *

Copa Argentina The Copa Argentina (English: ''Argentine Cup''), officially known as the "Copa Argentina AXION energy" due to sponsorship reasons, is an official football cup competition organized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). The first editions ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

References

External links

*
Football lineups player profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ortigoza, Nestor 1984 births Living people Paraguayan men's footballers Paraguay men's international footballers Argentine men's footballers Argentine sportspeople of Paraguayan descent Paraguayan expatriate men's footballers Men's association football midfielders 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2011 Copa América players 2015 Copa América players Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina Argentinos Juniors footballers Club Atlético Nueva Chicago footballers San Lorenzo de Almagro footballers Copa Libertadores–winning players Emirates Club players Club Olimpia footballers Rosario Central footballers Estudiantes de Río Cuarto footballers Argentine Primera División players UAE First Division League players Paraguayan Primera División players Argentine emigrants to Paraguay Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates Footballers from Merlo Partido 21st-century Argentine sportsmen 21st-century Paraguayan sportsmen