Ricardo Julio "Ricky" Villa (ˈbiʎa; born 18 August 1952 in Roque Pérez

Roque Pérez

Roque Pérez is a town in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the head town of the Roque Pérez Partido.-External links:...

, Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires Province

The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...

) is an Argentine

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 coach and former professional midfielder

Midfielder

A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...

.

Career

He played successively for Quilmes

Quilmes Atlético Club

Quilmes Atlético Club is a sports clubs of Argentina, based on the Partido de Quilmes, Buenos Aires Province. Quilmes is one of the oldest clubs of Argentina, having been founded in 1887. Its football squad currently plays in the Primera B Nacional Division....

, Club Atlético Tucumán

Club Atlético Tucumán

Club Atlético Tucumán is a sports club from the city of San Miguel in Tucumán, Argentina. Its football team currently plays in the Primera B Nacional....

 and Racing Club

Racing Club de Avellaneda

Racing Club is an Argentine professional football club from Avellaneda, a suburb of Greater Buenos Aires. Founded in 1903, Racing has been historically considered one of the "big five" clubs of Argentine football...

. Together with Ossie Ardiles

Osvaldo Ardiles

Osvaldo César Ardiles , often referred to in Britain as Ossie Ardiles, is a football coach, pundit and former midfielder who won the 1978 World Cup as part of the Argentine national team...

, he was snapped up by Tottenham

Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....

's Keith Burkinshaw

Keith Burkinshaw

Harry Keith Burkinshaw is an English former professional footballer and football manager.-Playing career:...

 after Argentina

Argentina national football team

The Argentina national football team represents Argentina in association football and is controlled by the Argentine Football Association , the governing body for football in Argentina. Argentina's home stadium is Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti and their head coach is Alejandro...

's success in the 1978 FIFA World Cup

1978 FIFA World Cup

The 1978 FIFA World Cup, the 11th staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in Argentina between 1 June and 25 June. The 1978 World Cup was won by Argentina who beat the Netherlands 3–1 after extra time in the final. This win was the first World Cup title for Argentina, who became the fifth...

.

Arriving to a ticker tape

Ticker tape

Ticker tape was the earliest digital electronic communications medium, transmitting stock price information over telegraph lines, in use between around 1870 through 1970...

 welcome at White Hart Lane

White Hart Lane

White Hart Lane is an all-seater football stadium in Tottenham, London, England. Built in 1899, it is the home of Tottenham Hotspur and, after numerous renovations, the stadium has a capacity of 36,230....

, Villa scored one goal against Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest F.C.

Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...

 on his debut. Villa scored 18 goals in 133 Spurs appearances, none more spectacular than his winning goal against Manchester City

Manchester City F.C.

Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...

 in the FA Cup

FA Cup

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

 Final replay in 1981 - for which he won the Wembley

Wembley Stadium

The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...

 goal of the century award in 2001. He had also opened the scoring in the 8th minute of that final replay.
Today, Spurs fans recall Ricky's unique contribution wearing t-shirts with his hirsute visage morphed into Che Guevara

Che Guevara

Ernesto "Che" Guevara , commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist...

's.

Villa played on in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

 and Argentina before ending his career in the lower leagues of Argentine football with Defensa y Justicia

Club Social y Deportivo Defensa y Justicia

Club Social y Deportivo Defensa y Justicia is an Argentine football club from Florencio Varela, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. The institution was founded on March 20, 1935, and its football team currently plays in the Primera B Nacional, which is the second division of the Argentine league...

.

Villa also represented Argentina in the 1991

I World Cup of Masters

I World Cup of Masters was the fourth edition of the World Cup of Masters. For the first time, it was held outside Brazil. It was held in Miami, and all of the matches were played at the Joe Robbie Stadium. The six "Master" teams were reigning champions Brazil, Italy, Uruguay, Argentina and for...

 edition of the World Cup of Masters

World Cup of Masters

The World Cup of Masters, also known as the Pelé World Cup and Mundialito de Seniors was an event that ran every two years from 1987 until 1995. The tournament was for senior players. In 1990 the term "seniors" was replaced by "masters". The editions until 1991 were organized by Brazilian TV...

, scoring in the opening round against England.

He dedicated himself to politics during the 1990s, but since July 2005 has been the technical secretary of Talleres de Córdoba

Talleres de Córdoba

Club Atlético Talleres is a sports club from the city of Córdoba, Argentina, mostly known for its professional football team, which currently plays in the regionalised third division, the Torneo Argentino A...

. He resides in Villa Carlos Paz

Villa Carlos Paz

Villa Carlos Paz is a city in the center-north of the province of Córdoba, Argentina, in the south of the Punilla Valley, lying on the western slope of the Sierras Chicas. It has a population of about 56,000 as per the...

 with his wife and four children. As of November 2007, it was announced by FIFA that all members of winning World Cup squads prior to 1982 would receive World Cup winners medals and this includes Villa as part of the 1978 World Cup winning squad.

On February 7, 2008 Ricky Villa along with his compatriot Ossie Ardiles was inducted into the Tottenham Hotspur Hall of Fame.

External links