Miguel Alberto Cortijo (born August 22, 1958 in

La Banda La Banda is a city in the province of Santiago del Estero, Argentina. It has about 95,000 inhabitants as per the , making it the second largest in the province. It is the head town of the Banda Department. La Banda is located only 8 km away ...

Santiago del Estero Santiago del Estero (, Spanish for ''Saint-James-Upon-The-Lagoon'') is the capital of Santiago del Estero Province in northern Argentina. It has a population of 252,192 inhabitants, () making it the twelfth largest city in the country, with a sur ...

) is a retired

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He spent his mostly career at

Ferro Carril Oeste Club Ferro Carril Oeste, known simply as Ferro Carril Oeste or familiarly, Ferro, is an Argentine sports club from the neighbourhood of Caballito, Buenos Aires. Although many activities are hosted by the club, Ferro is mostly known for its assoc ...

, the club where he won 4

local Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

titles. Cortijo is considered one of the best

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

s in Argentine basketball history."Miguel Cortijo en Baires"
Pasión y Deporte, 2008-02-22

Career

Cortijo started his career at Club INTI of

, playing in youth categories. He would be later drafted by

León Najnudel León David Najnudel (14 July 1941 – 22 April 1998) was an Argentina, Argentine professional basketball player and basketball coach, and the main driving force in the creation of the Liga Nacional de Básquet, the first nationwide yearly profess ...

(considered "the father" of the

Liga Nacional de Básquet Liga (Spanish and Portuguese: ''League'') or LIGA may refer to: Sports Basketball * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Liga Femenina de Baloncesto, women's professional basketball league in Spain Football Latin Amer ...

) who was coaching

at that time. Cortijo was only 18 when he was incorporated by Ferro where he spent most of his career, playing 14 consecutive years for the club. With Cortijo in the team, Ferro Carril Oeste won the 1980 Metropolitano championship and the Campeonato Sudamericano de Clubes in 1981 and 1982. In 1984 the Liga Nacional was created and Ferro won the 1985 and 1986 championships. The team also was the 1987 runner-up losing the finals against

Atenas de Córdoba Atenas () is a district of the Atenas canton, in the Alajuela province of Costa Rica. Its urban area is referred as Atenas city. Toponymy Its name means Athens ''(Αθήνα)'', the capital of Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republ ...

Marcelo Milanesio Marcelo Gustavo Milanesio (born February 11, 1965, in Hernando, Córdoba) is an Argentine former professional basketball player. A significant figure in Argentine basketball, he defended Argentina for 2 titles, and Atenas for 14 club titles. He ...

and

Héctor Campana Héctor Oscar "Pichi" Campana Marcomini (born November 10, 1964) is an Argentine former professional basketball player, and the former Vice Governor of his native Córdoba Province, in Argentina, serving for the Justicialist Party, from 2007 t ...

. Cortijo continued playing for Ferro until 1990, where the club achieved a new Liga championship (in 1989, being coached by his mentor Najnudel) and the Campeonato Sudamericano de Clubes in 1986. Cortijo was signed by

Peñarol de Mar del Plata Club Atlético Peñarol (), more commonly referred to as Peñarol, is a Uruguayan professional football club based in Montevideo. The club currently competes in the Uruguayan Primera División, the highest tier in Uruguayan football. The nam ...

where he spent a year after returning to Ferro where he played another season. He then played in Club Olímpico (from his home town,

) and then was signed by

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

for the 1993-94 season, where he met León Najnudel again, although the team did not win any title. In 1994 Cortijo played for Siderca (located in the city of

Campana, Buenos Aires Province Campana is a city in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the seat of the Campana Partido. It is located about from the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, on the right-hand margin of the Paraná River. Its population is 94,333 inhabitants ...

). His next team was Independiente of

General Pico General Pico is a city located in the northeast of La Pampa Province, Argentina. It is located at above sea level and inside the region of the ''Pampa Húmeda Llana'' (Flat-Humid Pampas). It has a surface area of . The city was founded on Novem ...

La Pampa La Pampa () is a sparsely populated province of Argentina, located in the Pampas in the center of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise San Luis, Córdoba, Buenos Aires, Río Negro, Neuquén and Mendoza. History In ...

, where he won a new Sudamericano de Clubes championship although the team would be defeated by Boca Juniors at the Liga Nacional finals. In 1997 Cortijo joined

Regatas Corrientes Club de Regatas Corrientes, usually just Regatas Corrientes, is a sports club of Corrientes, Argentina, located on the river side of the Paraná river. Although Regatas was born as a rowing institution, the club is mostly recognized due to its bas ...

where he played until 1998, when he signed with

Quimsa Asociación Atlética Quimsa, usually called simply Quimsa, is an Argentine sports club located in the city of Santiago del Estero in the homonymous province. The club's professional basketball team plays in the Liga Nacional de Básquet (LNB), t ...

, where he put an end to his career after two seasons there."Siempre trabajé para soportar la presión del puesto"
interview to Cortijo on ''La Nueva'', 24 Feb 2004

Honours and awards

Clubs

;Domestic *

Campeonato Argentino The Campeonato Argentino de Mayores (also known as Campeonato Argentino) was an annual rugby union competition held in Argentina for provinces of Argentina, provincial teams. The Campeonato Argentino was strictly amateur, and only players from l ...

(1): 1980 *

(3): 1985, 1986, 1989 ;International * Campeonato Sudamericano (4): 1981, 1982, 1987, 1996 * Torneo Federación de Buenos Aires (3): 1980, 1982, 1983

National team

* Bronce Medal (Torneo de las Américas, Pre-Olympic Games) (1): 1980 * Gold Medal ( Campeonato Sudamericano) (1): 1987

Individual

Olimpia de Plata The Olimpia Awards () are Argentine sports awards given annually by the ' (Association of Sports Journalists) since 1954. An ' (Silver Olimpia) is awarded to the outstanding performer in 41 sports. Among the ' winners an ' (Golden Olimpia) is a ...

(4): 1980, 1981, 1986, 1987 *

Konex Award Konex Foundation Awards, or simply Konex Awards, are cultural awards from the Konex Foundation honouring Argentine cultural personalities. History and purpose Konex Awards are granted by the Konex Foundation, created in 1980 in Argentina. The p ...

(1): 1990 *

Konex Foundation Konex Foundation (''Fundación Konex'') is an Argentine cultural non-profit organization created in 1980 "to promote, stimulate, help, and participate in any form of cultural, educational, intellectual, artistic, social, philanthropic, scientific ...

(Certificate of Distinction) (1): 1990 * Number 11 retired by

"Peñarol retiró la camiseta de 'Tato' Rodríguez"
La Voz del Interior, 2011-11-24

Statistics

* 396 matches played at the Liga Nacional * 4,201 points scored at the Liga Nacional (10,6 pts. per game)

Notes

References

External links

Interview to Miguel Cortijo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cortijo, Miguel 1958 births Living people Argentine men's basketball players 1990 FIBA World Championship players Basketball players with retired numbers Boca Juniors basketball players Ferro Carril Oeste basketball players Independiente de General Pico basketball players Peñarol de Mar del Plata basketball players People from La Banda Point guards Regatas Corrientes basketball players 1986 FIBA World Championship players Sportspeople from Santiago del Estero Province 20th-century Argentine sportsmen