Fernando Ortiz (footballer, born 1977)

Fernando Damián Ortiz (born 25 December 1977) is an Argentine professional football manager and former footballer. He is the current head coach of Liga MX club Santos Laguna.

Fernando Ortiz

Personal information
Date of birth	(1977-12-25) 25 December 1977 (age 46)
Place of birth	Corral de Bustos, Argentina
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Centre-back
Team information
Current team	Santos Laguna (head coach)
Youth career
	Sportivo Corral de Bustos
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1998–2001	Boca Juniors	3	(2)
1999	→ Mallorca B (loan)	13	(0)
1999–2000	→ San Lorenzo (loan)	22	(0)
2000–2001	→ Unión (loan)	30	(1)
2001–2004	Unión	57	(1)
2003–2004	→ Banfield (loan)	38	(4)
2004–2006	Estudiantes LP	79	(5)
2007–2008	Santos Laguna	80	(6)
2009–2010	América	15	(1)
2009–2010	→ Tigres UANL (loan)	21	(0)
2010–2012	Vélez Sársfield	59	(2)
2012–2014	Racing	45	(2)
Total		462	(24)
Managerial career
2016	Estudiantes (B-team)
2017	Sol de América
2018	Sportivo Luqueño
2018	Sol de América
2022	América (under-20)
2022	América (Interim)
2022–2023	América
2023–2024	Monterrey
2025–	Santos Laguna
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Ortiz was spotted by Argentine giants Boca Juniors in 1997. He made his debut in 1998, and helped Boca to win the Primera División 1998 Apertura championship. He played eight games for Boca in all competitions, scoring three goals.

In 1999, he was loaned to RCD Mallorca in Spain, where he played half-a-season for their B team (RCD Mallorca B). He returned that same year to Argentina to play for San Lorenzo. Subsequently, he had spells at Unión de Santa Fe and Banfield, before joining Estudiantes de La Plata in 2004.

Ortiz helped Estudiantes to win the 2006 Apertura. He was a starter in the championship playoff played against his former club Boca Juniors on 13 December, that Estudiantes won 2–1. Shortly after being crowned champion in Argentina, Ortiz signed with Mexican side Santos Laguna along with other players in order to help the team avoid relegation. He left Santos Laguna to join Club América on 17 December 2008.

In August 2010, Ortiz returned to Argentina to play for Vélez Sársfield.^[1][2] Ortiz was a regular starter along Sebastián Domínguez in Vélez Sársfield's centre back during his two-year stay at the club, in which he won with the team the 2011 Clausura and reached the semifinals of the 2011 Copa Libertadores and quarter-finals of the 2012 Copa Libertadores.

Aged 34, Ortiz did not renew his contract with Vélez after it expired in June 2012, signing instead for Racing. However, despite a "free agent", Racing had to pay a fee to Sud América, a proxy club for an unknown third parties. Racing received a warning for the transfer.^[3] After not being able to fully recover from a knee injury, he officially announced his retirement in 2014, and began his studies to become a coach.^[4]

Managerial career

Early career

Ortiz began his managerial career in 2016, being in charge of the Estudiantes reserve side. His first role as manager of a senior squad came the following year, being appointed manager of Paraguayan side Sol de América. He had a brief stint with Sportivo Luqueño in 2018 before returning to Sol de América that same year.

Mexico

In January 2022, Ortiz moved to Mexico and was announced as the new head coach of the Club América Under-20 side.^[5] On 3 March, Ortiz was appointed interim manager of the first team following the dismissal of Santiago Solari.^[6] On 21 May 2023, after losing in the semifinals to Chivas, Ortiz said, "As far as my staff and I are concerned, this is the end of an era here at Club America."

On 29 May 2023, Monterrey appointed Ortiz as their new manager.^[7] On 6 August 2024, Ortiz was dismissed from his position following an underwhelming group stage exit from the Leagues Cup.^[8]

On 23 November 2024, Santos Laguna announced Ortiz as their new head coach for the upcoming tournament.^[9]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 3 August 2024

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	Nat	From	To	Record					Ref
				P	W	D	L	Win %
Sol de América		2 January 2017	13 August 2017	30	10	12	8	033.3	[10]
Sportivo Luqueño		4 April 2018	29 May 2018	9	2	1	6	022.2	[10]
Sol de América		5 June 2018	25 August 2018	10	2	4	4	020.0	[10]
América U20		5 January 2022	3 March 2022	5	2	1	2	040.0	[10]
América		3 March 2022	21 May 2023	55	32	14	9	058.2
Monterrey		29 May 2023	6 August 2024	61	35	11	15	057.4
Santos Laguna		23 November 2024	present	0	0	0	0	!—
Total				170	83	43	44	048.8

Honours

Club

Boca Juniors

• Argentine Primera División (1): 1998 Apertura

Estudiantes LP

• Argentine Primera División (1): 2006 Apertura

Santos Laguna

• Mexican Primera División (1): 2008 Clausura

Vélez Sársfield

• Argentine Primera División (1): 2011 Clausura

Individual

• Mexican Primera División Best Central Defender: 2008 Clausura

References

1. Gabriel Martínez (3 August 2010). "El Fondo tiene cara nueva" (in Spanish). Vélez Sársfield official website. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
2. "Ortiz ya está en el Fortín". Olé (in Spanish). 4 August 2010. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
3. CAS ruling
4. "Se retiró Ortiz". Olé (in Spanish). 5 August 2014.
5. "América: Fernando Ortiz dirigirá al Sub 20 de las Águilas" (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
6. "Oficial: tras la salida de Solari, otro argentino tomará el cargo en América". Olé (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 March 2022.
7. "Oficial: Fernando 'Tano' Ortiz es el nuevo técnico de Monterrey". TUDN (in Spanish). 29 May 2023.
8. "Rayados anuncia el cese de Fernando 'Tano' Ortiz". ESPN México (in Spanish). 6 August 2024.
9. "Fernando Ortiz llega a Santos como nuevo director técnico". ESPN México (in Spanish). 23 November 2024.
10. Pacheco, Enrique. "Club América: Fernando Ortíz, un técnico con historial 'perdedor', el bombero de las Águilas" (in Spanish). SoyFútbol. Retrieved 3 March 2022.

External links

• Argentine Primera statisticsat Fútbol XXI at the Wayback Machine (archived 3 March 2016) (in Spanish)
• Fernando Ortiz at BDFA (in Spanish)
• Mexican Primera statistics at Medio Tiempo at the Wayback Machine (archived 2 September 2012) (in Spanish)