Argentina vs. Holland: the day Burrito Ortega was sent off and ended a dream in the national team

More than twenty years later, in front of a camera (not in front of a firing squad) the Burritos Ariel Ortega would he remember that afternoon when his expulsion was crucial for the Argentina national team he was eliminated from the 1998 World Cup by the Netherlands.

“It was something very sad for my life and for my career. The truth is that it was difficult for me to overcome it. It was a second, a reaction, I still regret it today. Without a doubt we lost because of me, if I was on the pitch… the game was happening so we could win,” al said Can we talk, the Andy Kusnetzoff show. And it is likely that these days he will still regret it when they review the preview images of the match against the Netherlands, even for the quarter-finals.

“If they didn’t send me off, we had a good chance of winning. With one more man, in today’s football, we had many chances,” he said at another time, closer to that match. Ariel Arnaldo Ortega. Over time he has become more aware of what happened, but he has almost always insisted that it was a crime: “If history were different, it was Maradona…”

Let’s review what happened that afternoon of July 4 in Marseille. The national team, led by Daniel Passarella, had just eliminated England on penalties after a great match which, among other things, was an unforgettable duel between Ortega and Michael Owen.

At the Stade Vélodrome, packed with 55,000 spectators, a great match was expected and that’s what we present and those who followed it on TV saw. The Netherlands took the lead in the 12th minute: Dennis Bergkamp headed Patrick Kluivert and the center forward finished off Carlos Roa. But at 17, Juan Sebastián Verón left only Claudio López ahead of Edwin van der Sar and the Louse He didn’t disappoint either: he stopped and passed the ball between the goalkeeper’s legs. This would be the game, from emotion to emotion, impossible to get distracted. A shot from the post by Kluivert, another by Ortega and another by Gabriel Batistuta. Great save from Roa before Kluivert’s header.

The BurritosAs against England, he was unstoppable. “They can’t take Ortega,” Enrique Macaya Márquez said during the telecast. The orange number 3 was the one who couldn’t catch or stop him. She abused him several times. The teams came and went, it depended on whoever, until in the 31st minute there was a key play: Arthur Numan, left full-back, committed a bad foul on Diego Simeone and the Mexican referee Arturo Brizio Carter gave him the second yellow card. With the score 1-1 and with 15 minutes remaining, the Netherlands were left with one player down.

The tension was tremendous. I remember that a few pews above me was Johan Cruyff with his wife. But at that moment no one could take their eyes off the field. He attacked Argentina, led by Small witch Verón and with Ortega dodging orange paws. Still with Stam attached, the Burritos he tackled the defender in the box and collided with his leg. It looked like a penalty, but it wasn’t and Ortega exaggerated the fall so much that the referee didn’t buy it. He also took out the yellow one. What followed was the beginning of the end.

Van der Sar vigorously tackled Ortega, who remained down, to claim him for the simulation. Getting up, he Burrito (“From the fever that the pain had not charged me,” he explained) He headbutted him which the goalkeeper took advantage of, even though it wasn’t necessary. The expulsion was inevitable. “He was more alive than me,” the Argentine striker said several times. It should be remembered that Edwin van der Sar was considered by many to be the best goalkeeper in the world at that time. Three minutes to go, the tie went into extra time, but now it’s ten against ten.

Burrito was supposed to be a superhero and ended up being a villain.

There was almost no time for regrets. Frank de Boer, a notable left-footed centre-back, launched a 40-metre shot in pursuit of Bergkamp which knocked the Argentine defense off balance. Roberto Ayala, as we have said in recent days, was very self-critical with his reaction, but the truth is that even José Chamot wasn’t in good shape. The images that are repeated today also show this a huge check from the then English Arsenal striker and equally admirable definition, to define the match and the classification of the Netherlands in the semi-finals. The team led by Guus Hiddink then lost on penalties against Brazil (by Ronaldo, Bebeto, Rivaldo) and then third place against Croatia.

The faces of the Argentine’s disappointment ranged from Verón consoled by Crespo, to Batistuta and Simeone, passing through Passarella and his assistants Américo Gallego and Alejandro Sabella, and other substitutes such as Doll Gallant. Names that demonstrate that it was a national team that could go further, and a World Cup that could have been that of Ariel Ortega. Was it all your fault?

“When I was entering the dressing room I heard a cry of goal… I asked the stage man…”, he recalled almost twenty years after the Burritos. “After a while my colleagues started coming, for me it was horrible. Nobody told me anything. I would have preferred that they all hit me together, it would have been healthier for me, but no one said anything to me. I felt like we lost because of me. Now I see it and I want to die. They sent me off and then the goal came, I can’t forget it, it hurts every time I see it.”

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