He played 1+1⁄2 seasons for Valencia CF before being signed by Sampdoria in 1998 for 23 billion Italian lire (£8 million),[4] replacing Juan Sebastián Verón.

[5] However, in the following season he returned to Argentina with River Plate, to compensate unpaid 12 billion lire transfer fees of Crespo.

Fenerbahçe were forced to file a complaint to FIFA in April 2003 as Ortega had failed to return from international duty since 12 February 2003.

[9] In June 2003 the FIFA Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC) ordered Ortega to pay Fenerbahçe USD 11,000,000 as compensation for breach of an employment contract and suspended him until 30 December 2003.

In June 2006, he went back to his first team River Plate, where he played for about half of the Apertura 2006,[10] before he stopped to begin treatment for alcoholism.

On 15 March 2007, in a Copa Libertadores 2007 match against LDU Quito, Ortega formed part of River's bench but was not given a chance to play.

However, three days later, in a league match versus Quilmes, he came on during the second half to help break the opposing team's defense in a tight 0–0 up to that point.

[11][12][13] After some controversy[14] and rumours[15][16] in the winter window of Argentine market, he was loaned to Nacional B side Independiente Rivadavia,[17] signing a one-year contract where a twice a week trip to a Chilean Special Treatment Center for alcoholics[18] is one of the clauses.

On 8 April 2012, Fox Sports Argentina journalist Juan José Buscalia, confirmed that Ortega would join Chilean Primera División club Unión San Felipe in June 2012.

Ortega missed a penalty in the last match against Sweden, which was then followed up and converted into the back of the net by Hernan Crespo, nonetheless the result meant that Argentina was knocked out in the first round.

On 24 September 2009, he was recalled to the Argentina national first-team squad,[19] but had to miss the friendly match against Ghana due to an injury he picked up during the weekend in the Argentine Domestic League.

At his prime he was regarded as 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.