Osvaldo Ardiles

Osvaldo César Ardiles (born 3 August 1952), often referred to in Britain as Ossie Ardiles, is an Argentine football manager, pundit and former midfielder who won the 1978 FIFA World Cup as part of the Argentina national team. A competitive and skilled midfielder, Ardiles became a cult hero in England, along with Glenn Hoddle and compatriot Ricardo Villa, as a player for Tottenham Hotspur. He left England for a period on loan as a result of the outbreak of the Falklands War in 1982, thus missing most of the 1982–83 English season. After retirement, Ardiles began his management career in England, coaching Swindon Town, Newcastle United and West Bromwich Albion, before returning to Tottenham to become the first Premier League manager from Argentina. As manager of Spurs in the mid-1990s, he played several matches utilizing a formation that had five forwards, a formation that had not been used in English football since the 1960s. During his career, Ardiles has also coached in Mexico, Croatia, Japan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Paraguay and his native Argentina. In Ireland, he is a pundit for RTÉ Sport. Club career Ardiles was born in Córdoba, and played for Instituto de Córdoba from a young age. As a youngster, Ardiles played football in the streets and was given the nickname Pitón (python) by his brother because of his snake-like dribbling skills. He was named as El Gráfico's best player of the interior in 1974, and abandoned his law degree studies in order to play professional football.