Roberto Ayala

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Roberto Ayala
Personal information
Full name	Roberto Fabián Ayala
Date of birth	April 14, 1973 (1973-04-14) (age 36)
Place of birth	Paraná, Argentina
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)[1]
Playing position	Center back
Club information
Current club	Real Zaragoza
Number	5
Youth career
	Ferrocarril Oeste
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1991–1994 1994–1995 1995–1998 1998–2000 2000–2007 2007–	Ferrocarril Oeste River Plate Napoli A.C. Milan Valencia Real Zaragoza	072 (1) 040 (0) 087 (1) 024 (0) 183 (9) 059 (4)
National team
1994–2007	Argentina	115 (7)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14 June 2009. * Appearances (Goals)

Roberto Fabián Ayala (born 14 April 1973 in Paraná, Argentina), nicknamed El Ratón is an Argentine football player for the Spanish team Real Zaragoza. Regarded as one of the best central defenders, he has been captain of the Argentine national team for more matches than anyone else.^[2] He has captained 63 matches and has played in three World Cups. Ayala made 115 international appearances, only Javier Zanetti having more caps for Argentina.

Roberto inherited the nickname of Ratón (Mouse) from Argentine 1974 World Cup player Rubén Ayala, though they are not related.

Contents 1 Football career 1.1 Club 2 International career 3 Career statistics 4 International goals 5 Honours 5.1 International honours 5.2 Club honours 5.2.1 River Plate 5.2.2 AC Milan 5.2.3 Valencia CF 6 References

[edit] Football career

[edit] Club

Italian club Parma FC brought the Argentine defender to Europe, however the club having their quota of three non-EU players, he was loaned to Napoli, who bought up half of his contract. Ayala was allowed leave for AC Milan. Playing for Valencia, he reached the finals of the 2000 and 2001 UEFA Champions League, but his team lost to Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.In the latter of which he was voted the best defender of that seasons champions league.The next 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 2004-05 injuries kept Ayala from much of the Liga campaign and he missed the UEFA Super Cup 2004 victory over Porto.

In August 2006, he was not offered a new contract by sporting director Amedeo Carboni. On February 7, 2007 Ayala announced he would join regional rivals Villarreal CF at the end of 2006/07. However, before having played for Villarreal, he joined Real Zaragoza on a three-year deal on 14 July 2007.

On 3 May 2008, Ayala scored his first goal for Real Zaragoza in the 94th minute versus Deportivo La Coruna to lead Zaragoza to a 1-0 victory.^[3][4] Zaragoza however are now playing in the Spanish 2nd Division. On Saturday, November 22, 2008, Roberto Ayala scored his second ever goal for Real Zaragoza in the 73rd minute as Real Zaragoza defeated SD Eibar 3-0. On Saturday, February 29, 2009, Ayala scored his third goal for Real Zaragoza in the 54th minute against Real Murcia as Zaragoza won the match 4-1.

[edit] 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 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.^[5]

One of the best defenders in Argentina 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 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.^[6]

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.^[7] Ayala stated, "it has nothing to do with what happened in the final of the Copa America."^[8]

[edit] 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		Copa de la Liga		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	Villarreal	La Liga	0	0
2007-08	Real Zaragoza	La Liga	33	1
2008-09		Segunda División	26	3
Total	Argentina		112	1
	Italy		111	1
	Spain		247	13
Career Total			455	15

Correct as of 14 June, 2009

[edit] International goals

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

[edit] Honours

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

[edit] International honours

Winner

• 2004 Olympic Games

[edit] Club honours

[edit] River Plate

Winner

• 1994 Apertura

[edit] AC Milan

Winner

• 1998-99 Serie A

[edit] Valencia CF

Winner

• 2001-02, 2003-04 La Liga
• 2003-04 UEFA Cup
• 2004 UEFA Super Cup
• 2001 UEFA Champions League Runners-Up

[edit] References

Preceded by Jaap Stam

UEFA Champions League Best Defender 2000-01

Succeeded by Roberto Carlos da Silva

Argentina Squad v • d • e Argentina squad – 1995 Copa América 1 Cristante • 2 Ayala • 3 Chamot • 4 Zanetti • 5 Pérez • 6 Cáceres • 7 Balbo • 8 Simeone • 9 Batistuta • 10 Gallardo • 11 Berti • 12 Bossio • 13 Altamirano • 14 Schürrer • 15 Fabbri • 16 Astrada • 17 Escudero • 18 Espina • 19 Ortega • 20 Acosta • 21 Borrelli • 22 Burgos • Coach: Passarella v • d • e Argentina squad – 1996 Summer Olympics Silver Medalists 1 Cavallero • 2 Ayala • 3 Chamot • 4 Zanetti • 5 Almeyda • 6 Sensini • 7 C. López • 8 Simeone • 9 Crespo • 10 Ortega • 11 Delgado • 12 Morales • 13 Bossio • 14 Paz • 15 Bassedas • 16 Pineda • 17 G. López • 18 Gallardo • Coach: Passarella v • d • e Argentina squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup 1 Roa • 2 Ayala • 3 Chamot • 4 Pineda • 5 Almeyda • 6 Sensini • 7 C. López • 8 Simeone • 9 Batistuta • 10 Ortega • 11 Verón • 12 Burgos • 13 Paz • 14 Vivas • 15 Astrada • 16 Berti • 17 Cavallero • 18 Balbo • 19 Crespo • 20 Gallardo • 21 Delgado • 22 Zanetti • Coach: Passarella v • d • e Argentina squad – 1999 Copa América 1 Burgos • 2 Ayala • 3 Sorín • 4 Ibarra • 5 Simeone • 6 Samuel • 7 Barros Schelotto • 8 Zanetti • 9 Palermo • 10 Ortega • 11 López • 12 Bizzarri • 13 Vivas • 14 Pochettino • 15 Berizzo • 16 Guglielminpietro • 17 Husaín • 18 Cagna • 19 Calderón • 20 Aimar • 21 González • 22 Riquelme • Coach: Bielsa v • d • e Argentina squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 Burgos • 2 Ayala • 3 Sorín • 4 Pochettino • 5 Almeyda • 6 Samuel • 7 C. López • 8 Zanetti • 9 Batistuta • 10 Ortega • 11 Verón • 12 Cavallero • 13 Placente • 14 Simeone • 15 Husaín • 16 Aimar • 17 G. López • 18 González • 19 Crespo • 20 Gallardo • 21 Caniggia • 22 Chamot • 23 Bonano • Coach: Bielsa v • d • e Argentina squad – 2004 Olympic Gold Medalists 1 Caballero • 2 Ayala • 3 Heinze • 4 Fernández • 5 K. Gonzalez • 6 Coloccini • 7 Saviola • 8 Mascherano • 9 Figueroa • 10 Tévez • 11 Delgado • 12 Rosales • 13 Rodríguez • 14 Medina • 15 D'Alessandro • 16 L. González • 17 M. González • 18 Lux • Coach: Bielsa v • d • e Argentina squad – Copa América 2004 Runners-up 1 Abbondanzieri • 2 Ayala • 3 Sorín • 4 Quiroga • 5 Mascherano • 6 Heinze • 7 Saviola • 8 Zanetti • 9 Figueroa • 10 D'Alessandro • 11 Tévez • 12 Cavallero • 13 Placente • 14 Rodriguez • 15 Fernández • 16 L.González • 17 M.González • 18 K.González • 19 Delgado • 20 Medina • 21 Rosales • 22 Coloccini • Coach: Bielsa v • d • e Argentina squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Abbondanzieri • 2 Ayala • 3 Sorín • 4 Coloccini • 5 Cambiasso • 6 Heinze • 7 Saviola • 8 Mascherano • 9 Crespo • 10 Riquelme • 11 Tévez • 12 Franco • 13 Scaloni • 14 Palacio • 15 Milito • 16 Aimar • 17 Cufré • 18 Rodríguez • 19 Messi • 20 Cruz • 21 Burdisso • 22 González • 23 Ustari • Coach: Pekerman v • d • e Argentina squad – Copa América 2007 Runners-up 1 Abbondanzieri • 2 Ayala • 3 Díaz • 4 Ibarra • 5 Gago • 6 Heinze • 7 Palacio • 8 Zanetti • 9 Crespo • 10 Riquelme • 11 Tévez • 12 Carrizo • 13 González • 14 Mascherano • 15 G.Milito • 16 Aimar • 17 Burdisso • 18 Messi • 19 Cambiasso • 20 Verón • 21 D.Milito • 22 Orión • Coach: Basile

v • d • e Real Zaragoza – current squad 1 López Vallejo · 2 Diogo · 3 Paredes · 5 Ayala · 6 Chus · 7 J.López · 8 Ewerthon · 10 Braulio · 11 Songo'o · 14 Gabi · 15 Pavón · 17 Caffa · 19 Arizmendi · 20 Generelo · 21 Zapater · 22 Pulido · 23 Ponzio · 24 Pignol · 25 Doblas · 26 Raúl Goni · 30 Zaparaín · 31 Adrià · 34 A. Herrera · -- Matuzalém · -- Lafita · Manager: Marcelino García Toral