Ariel Arnaldo Ortega (Αριέλ Αρνάλδο Ορτέγα)

Ariel Arnaldo Ortega (born 4 March 1974) is a retired Argentine professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. His nickname is "El Burrito" (The Little Donkey), thus he is called "Burrito Ortega".

Ariel Ortega first played for Club Atlético River Plate on 14 December 1991 and until 1996 and returned in 2000-02, 2006-08 and 2009-11. Ortega's other clubs include Fenerbahçe, Parma, Sampdoria, Valencia, and Newell's Old Boys. A former Argentina international, Ortega played for his country in the 1994, 1998, and 2002 World Cups. He was also a member of the team that won the silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics.

A highly creative player with excellent technical ability, Ortega was well known for his pace, mobility, dribbling, and skills from dead ball situations, as well as his ball trickery, clever body feints, and lobbed shots. At his prime he was one of the best dribblers in the world; primarily deployed as an attacking midfielder, Ortega was an effective playmaker due to his vision and passing ability, which earned him comparisons with Maradona as a youth. Along with his skills, Ortega was infamously temperamental, and he was criticised throughout his career for not living up to his potential.