Néstor Ortigoza

Néstor Ezequiel Ortigoza Candia (; born 7 October 1984) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. 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 in the United Arab Emirates.

In December 2017, Ortigoza signed with Rosario Central from Olimpia.

After a half year at Estudiantes de Río Cuarto, 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 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 matches against Venezuela and Colombia, as well as the main tournament. On 14 October 2014, he scored his first goal in a 2–1 away defeat to China PR 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 specialist.

Career statistics Scores and results list Paraguay's goal tally first. No Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1 14 October 2014 Helong Stadium, Changsha, China PR 1–2 1–2 Friendly

Honours Argentinos Juniors Argentine Primera División: 2010 Clausura

Emirates Club UAE First Division League: 2012–13

San Lorenzo Argentine Primera División: 2013 Inicial Copa Libertadores: 2014 Supercopa Argentina: 2015

Rosario Central Copa Argentina: 2018