El Pibe Valderrama

Ortega, Colombia's secret agent

Fresh from their last-gasp 3-2 win over Costa Rica in the Round of 16 here at the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2011, the dressing room of host nation Colombia was the scene of joyous celebrations, with players and coaching staff all singing and dancing to salsa rhythms. All except attacking midfielder Michael Ortega and supremo Eduardo Lara, who could be seen locked deep in serious conversation.

Problems between the gifted schemer and his coach? Not in the slightest, as Los Cafeteros’ creator-in-chief, currently plying his trade for Mexican club Atlas, was simply taking the earliest opportunity available to tell his boss everything he knew about El Tri – Colombia ’s quarter-final opponents.

“I went and spoke to the gaffer as soon as I found out they’d got through too, because I know everything about them,” Ortega revealed to FIFA.com . “Some of my Atlas team-mates are in this Mexico squad and I’ve played against the others in the first division.

“The Mexican lads run hard, they’re committed and they’re battlers,” continued the 20-year-old, who started out in the youth system at homeland outfit Deportivo Cali, where he made his first-team debut at 16. “They never give up and they attack very quickly, so to beat them we’ll have to be even more committed and play better football than them. It’s going to be a tough game, even though we’ve got the fans behind us,” added the No8, who has been at Atlas since 2010.

Saturday 13 August’s clash in Bogota is therefore sure to be special for the Colombian midfield man, given three of his club-mates are in Los Aztecas’ squad. “Cesar Ibanez is my best friend, though I’ve not wanted to speak to him since I got here – so I don’t give anything away. I’m sure we’ll speak a bit out on the pitch, but I know how good our team are and I’m willing to bet him anything he likes (that Colombia will win),” said Ortega, with a broad grin.

A real character in Los Cafeteros’ camp, largely thanks to his sense of humour and restless energy, Ortega is the squad’s main prank-player and occasionally its resident DJ: “Every time I get the chance I put some salsa music on, but mainly so I don’t have to listen to Pedro Franco’s heavy metal!”

On the pitch, however, it is the youngster’s ability to create goalscoring chances for his team-mates that stands him out from the crowd. “I enjoy laying on an assist as much as scoring a goal, even though people only tend to remember the scorer,” he continued. “It’d be great if assists got more recognition too, because some people don’t notice them and that can make things difficult at times.

Experiencias de Vida

West Africa

New York Magazine

My Colombian War, A Journey Through the Country I Left Behind

Latin American sport, an annotated bibliography, 1988-1998