Roberto Ayala

Roberto Ayala

Ayala with Argentina in 2007
Personal information
Full name	Roberto Fabián Ayala
Date of birth	(1973-04-14) 14 April 1973
Place of birth	Paraná, Argentina
Height
Position(s)	Centre-back
Youth career
	Ferro Carril Oeste
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1991–1993	Ferro Carril Oeste	72	(1)
1994–1995	River Plate	40	(0)
1995–1998	Napoli	87	(1)
1998–2000	Milan	24	(0)
2000–2007	Valencia	188	(9)
2007	Villarreal	0	(0)
2007–2010	Zaragoza	72	(4)
2010–2011	Racing Club	16	(0)
Total		499	(15)
International career
1994–2007	Argentina	115	(7)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Roberto Fabián Ayala (locally: [roˈβ̞erto faˈβ̞jan aˈʒala]; born 14 April 1973), nicknamed el Ratón (in English: "the Mouse"), is a former Argentine footballer who played as a centre back for the Argentine National Football Team, as well as the Spanish giant Valencia and prominent Spanish side Zaragoza, the Italian giants Milan and Napoli, and the Argentine powerhouse River Plate.

Regarded as one of the best central defenders of his generation, he stood out for his leadership and ability in the air throughout his career. Ayala captained the Argentine national team in a record 63 matches. He played in three World Cups and made a total of 115 international appearances, with only Javier Zanetti getting more caps for Argentina. He inherited the nickname of Ratón from the Argentine 1974 World Cup player Rubén Ayala, although they are not related.

Football career

Early Career in Argentina

Ayala began his career in his native Argentina, playing for Ferro Carril Oeste. After three seasons, he moved to River Plate where his good form atrracted the attention of clubs in Europe.

Move to Europe

Parma, Napoli and Milan

Italian club Parma FC brought the Argentine defender to Europe. However the club, having already used their quota of three non-EU players, loaned him to Napoli, who bought up half of his contract on a co-ownership deal. Ayala was bought by AC Milan at the end of the 1997–98 season and played there for two seasons until Valencia CF bought him for £6.25 Million.

Valencia

During his seven years at Valencia CF, he helped them reach the UEFA Champions League final in 2001. However, his team lost to Bayern Munich in a penalty shoot-out after a 1–1 draw, although he was nonetheless voted the Best Defender of the tournament season. The following year, Valencia won the 2001–02 Spanish La Liga. In 2003–04, Valencia again won the Spanish La Liga and added the UEFA Cup.

In the 2004–05 season, injuries kept Ayala from much of the La Liga campaign and he missed the UEFA Super Cup 2004 victory over Porto.

During his time with Valencia, he was widely regarded as one of the finest central defenders in the world.

Villarreal and Real Zaragoza

In August 2006, he was not offered a new contract by sporting director Amedeo Carboni. On 7 February 2007 Ayala announced he would join regional rivals Villarreal CF at the end of the season. However, before having played for Villarreal, he joined Real Zaragoza on a three-year deal on 14 July 2007. The buy-out clause in his contract with Villarreal was €6 million (£4.8 million) which was paid in full by Real Zaragoza.

On 3 May 2008, Ayala scored his first goal for Real Zaragoza in the 94th minute versus Deportivo La Coruña to lead Zaragoza to a 1–0 victory. Zaragoza however were relegated to the Spanish 2nd Division. On 22 November 2008, Ayala scored his second goal for Real Zaragoza, in the 73rd of a 3-0 win over SD Eibar. On 29 February 2009, he scored his third goal, in the 54th minute against Real Murcia as Zaragoza won the match 4–1.

In January 2010, Ayala's contract with Real Zaragoza was terminated by mutual consent.

Racing Avellaneda

On 2 February 2010, Racing Club de Avellaneda signed Ayala on a free transfer.

Managerial career

On 30 December, he retired from professional football, and became Racing Avellaneda's manager.

International career

He made his debut for Argentina on 16 November 1994, against Chile, under coach Daniel Passarella.

Ayala played for Argentina at the 1996 Summer Olympics, winning the silver medal. He played for Argentina in the 1998 World Cup and was a non-playing squad member in the 2002 competition due to a last minute injury moments before their first match against Nigeria. He was then selected as an over-age player as Argentina won the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Ayala played an integral part in the Argentine squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. He played brilliantly throughout the tournament, and was picked as a member of the All Star Team. In the quarterfinal against Germany he scored a header that gave Argentina the 1–0 lead. Argentina lost the penalty shootout after the 1–1 tie, with Ayala's spot kick being saved by Jens Lehmann.

On 30 May 2006, In a friendly match against Angola, Ayala completed 100 caps for Argentina.

One of the best defenders in Argentina's history, on 7 February 2007, Ayala became the most capped player of the National team (most of the times as captain), beating his friend Diego Simeone, in a friendly victory 1–0 against France played in the Stade de France, Paris.

On 5 June 2007, in a friendly against Algeria, Roberto Ayala captained Argentina for a record 58th international, having equalled Diego Maradona's mark of 57 in the 1–1 draw against Switzerland in Basel on Saturday 2 June.

On 17 July 2007, after playing in the Copa América 2007 final against Brazil, during which he scored an own goal, Ayala announced his retirement from international football. Ayala stated, "it has nothing to do with what happened in the final of the Copa America." Javier Zanetti took over from him as captain.

Personal life

Ayala is married to Veronica, and has four children: Francisco, Sofía, Pilar and Martina.

Career statistics

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Argentina			League		Cup		League Cup		South America		Total
1991–92	Ferro Carril Oeste	Primera División	18	0
1992–93			36	0
1993–94			18	1
1993–94	River Plate	Primera División	16	0
1994–95			24	0
Italy			League		Coppa Italia		League Cup		Europe		Total
1995–96	Napoli	Serie A	29	0
1996–97			30	1
1997–98			28	0
1998–99	Milan	Serie A	11	0
1999–00			13	0
Spain			League		Copa del Rey		Supercopa de España		Europe		Total
2000–01	Valencia	La Liga	28	1
2001–02			30	2
2002–03			31	1
2003–04			30	1
2004–05			17	0
2005–06			23	2
2006–07			29	2
2007–08	Real Zaragoza	La Liga	33	1
2008–09		Segunda División	26	3
2009–10		La Liga	13	0
Total	Argentina		112	1
	Italy		111	1
	Spain		260	13
Career total			468	15

Correct as of 14 June 2009

Argentina national team
Year	Apps	Goals
1994	3	0
1995	14	0
1996	6	0
1997	7	0
1998	13	1
1999	12	1
2000	11	1
2001	8	0
2002	1	0
2003	6	0
2004	10	1
2005	8	2
2006	7	1
2007	9	0
Total	115	7

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Result	Competition
1	19 February 1998	Mendoza, Argentina	Romanian League	2–1	Unofficial Friendly
2	7 September 1999	Porto Alegre, Brazil	Brazil	2–4	Friendly
3	26 April 2000	Maracaibo, Venezuela	Venezuela	4–0	World Cup 2002 Qualifying
4	13 July 2004	Piura, Peru	Uruguay	4–2	Copa América 2004
5	12 November 2005	Geneva, Switzerland	England	2–3	Friendly
6	16 November 2005	Doha, Qatar	Qatar	3–0	Friendly
7	30 June 2006	Berlin, Germany	Germany	1 – 1 (2–4 PS)	2006 FIFA World Cup

Honours

Roberto Ayala

Medal record
Representing Argentina
Men's Football
Olympic Games
	1996 Atlanta	Team Competition
	2004 Athens	Team Competition
Pan American Games
	1995 Mar del Plata	Team Competition

International honours

Winner

• 2004 Olympic Games

Club honours

River Plate

Winner

• 1994 Apertura

Milan

Winner

• 1998–99 Serie A

Valencia

Winner

• 2001–02, 2003–04 La Liga
• 2003–04 UEFA Cup
• 2004 UEFA Super Cup

Individual

Winner

• South American Team of the Year: 1994
• UEFA Club Best Defender of the Year: 2000-01
• European Sports Media Team of the Year: 2003-04
• 2006 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team

External links

• Argentine Primera statistics at Fútbol XXI (Spanish)