Roberto Ayala

Roberto Fabián Ayala (locally [roˈβeɾto faˈβjan aˈʒala]; born 14 April 1973), nicknamed El Ratón ("The Mouse"), is an Argentine former footballer who played as a centre back for the Argentina national football team, as well as Valencia and Real Zaragoza in Spain, Milan and Napoli in Italy, and River Plate in his native Argentina.

For the Mexican footballer, see Roberto Hernández Ayala.

Roberto Ayala
Ayala in 2018
Personal information
Full name Roberto Fabián Ayala
Date of birth (1973-04-14) 14 April 1973
Place of birth Paraná, Argentina
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Club information
Current team
 Argentina (field assistant)[1]
Youth career
Ferro Carril Oeste
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1991–1993 Ferro Carril Oeste 73 (1)
1993–1995 River Plate 41 (0)
1995–1998 Napoli 87 (1)
1998–2000 Milan 24 (0)
2000–2007 Valencia 187 (9)
2007–2010 Real Zaragoza 74 (4)
2010–2011 Racing Club 15 (0)
Total 501 (15)
National team
1994–2007 Argentina 115 (7)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

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.[2] Ayala captained Argentina in a record 63 matches.[3] He played in three FIFA World Cups and made a total of 115 international appearances, behind only Javier Mascherano, Javier Zanetti and Lionel Messi in terms of international appearances.

Club 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 attracted the attention of clubs in Europe.

Parma, Napoli and Milan

Italian side Parma brought the Argentine defender to Europe. However, the club, having already used their quota of three non-EU players, loaned him to Napoli, who purchased 50% of his rights on a co-ownership deal. Ayala was bought by Milan at the end of the 1997–98 season and played there for two seasons until Valencia purchased him for £6.25 million.

Valencia

After signing with Valencia in the summer of 2000, Ayala made 275 appearances during a seven-year spell at the club.[4]

On 24 September 2000, Ayala made his debut for Valencia in a 3–0 La Liga win over Numancia.[5] He soon established himself as a first choice central defender for Los Che and started alongside compatriot Mauricio Pellegrino in the 2001 UEFA Champions League final, where Valencia lost 5–4 to Bayern Munich after a penalty shootout.[6] He was later named best defender for the 2000–01 tournament.[7]

The following season, Ayala was part of the Valencia team that won the 2001–02 La Liga title. He scored the opening goal of a 2–0 defeat of Málaga which secured the championship on 5 May 2002.[8] In 2003–04, Valencia again won the La Liga title and beat Marseille 2–0 in Gothenburg to win the UEFA Cup.[5]

During the 2004–05 season, injuries kept Ayala from much of the La Liga campaign as well as the UEFA Super Cup victory over Porto.

During his time with Valencia, he was widely regarded as one of the finest central defenders in the world and is considered to be one of the club's all-time legends.[5]

Villarreal and Real Zaragoza

In August 2006, Ayala was not offered a new contract by sporting director Amedeo Carboni. On 7 February 2007, he announced he would join regional rivals Villarreal 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.[9] 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 against Deportivo de La Coruña to lead Zaragoza to a 1–0 victory.[10] Zaragoza, however, were relegated to the Segunda División. On 22 November 2008, Ayala scored his second goal for Zaragoza, in the 73rd of a 3–0 win over Eibar. On 29 February 2009, he scored his third goal coming in the 54th minute against Real Murcia as Zaragoza won the match 4–1.

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

Racing Avellaneda

On 2 February 2010, Argentine side Racing Club signed Ayala on a free transfer.[11]

International career

Ayala 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 FIFA 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 World Cup in Germany. He played brilliantly throughout the tournament and was picked as a member of the All Star Team. In the quarter-final against Germany, he scored a header that gave Argentina the 1–0 lead, although his side lost the penalty shootout after a 1–1 draw, with Ayala's spot kick being saved by Jens Lehmann.

On 30 May 2006, In a friendly match against Angola, Ayala earned his 100th cap for Argentina.[12]

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

On 5 June 2007, in a friendly against Algeria, 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 2 June.[13]

On 17 July 2007, two days after playing in the 2007 Copa América Final, which ended in a 3–0 defeat to Brazil, and during which he scored an own goal, Ayala announced his retirement from international football.[14] Ayala stated, "it has nothing to do with what happened in the final of the Copa América."[14] Javier Zanetti took over from him as captain.

After retiring

Racing Club

On 30 December, Ayala retired from professional football.[15] On 21 December 2011, Ayala was hired as a football coordinator at Racing Club.[16] In September 2013, a new management arrived, and Ayala was released on 19 September 2013.[17]

Valencia CF

In December 2013, Ayala was hired as a technical director / sport director for Valencia, where he was going to be the responsible for the whole South American area.[18] The role also involved him scouting in that area to find young talents. He left the club in the middle of 2015.[19]

Argentina

On 10 January 2019, Ayala joined the technical staff of the Argentina national football team as a field assistant of manager Lionel Scaloni.[1]

Style of play

Regarded as one of the best and most accomplished defenders of his generation, Ayala was mainly known for his ability in the air and tenacious tackling, and also stood out for his leadership and consistency throughout his career. A complete defender, he was also noted for his speed, ability on the ball, and passing accuracy as a centre-back.[2][20]

Personal life

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

Career statistics

Club
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Ferro Carril Oeste 1991–92 Primera División 190———190
1992–93 361———360
1993 181——3[lower-alpha 1]0211
Total 731000030761
River Plate 1994 Primera División 160———160
1994–95 250—121—371
Total 4100012100531
Napoli 1995–96 Serie A 29010——301
1996–97 30160——361
1997–98 28020——300
Total 871900000961
Milan 1998–99 Serie A 11020——130
1999-00 1303060—220
Total 240506000350
Valencia 2000–01 La Liga 2812092—393
2001–02 2921070—372
2002–03 311—1202[lower-alpha 2]0451
2003–04 30150100—451
2004–05 170———170
2005–06 232—6[lower-alpha 3]0—292
2006–07 2924081—413
Total 18791405232025312
Villarreal 2006–07 La Liga 0000––00
Zaragoza 2007–08 La Liga 3314020—391
2008–09 Segunda División 283———283
2009–10 La Liga 13010——140
Total 744502000814
Racing 2009–10 Primera División 150———150
Career total 501153407245060919
  1. Appearances in the Copa Centenario de la AFA.
  2. Appearances in the Supercopa de España.
  3. Appearances in the Intertoto Cup.

International
Appearances and goals by national team and year[21]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Argentina 199430
1995140
199660
199770
1998131
1999121
2000111
200180
200210
200360
2004101
200582
200671
200790
Total1157

International goals
# Date Venue Opponent Result Competition
1 19 February 1998 Mendoza, Argentina  Romanian League 2–1 Unofficial Friendly[22]
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 2004 Copa América
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

River Plate

Milan

Valencia

Argentina U23

Individual

References
  1. Roberto Ayala se sumará al cuerpo técnico de la Selección Argentina, theguardian.com, 10 January 2019
  2. "Ultime notizie su Roberto Ayala". Il Sole 24 Ore (in Italian). 6 June 2006. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  3. "Messi inspires Argentina to 4–3 win over Algeria". China Daily. 5 June 2007. Retrieved 6 June 2007.
  4. "Ayala". Valencia CF. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  5. "15 years of Ayala's debut with VCF". Valencia CF. 24 September 2015.
  6. "Bayern Munich 1 – 1 Valencia". The Guardian. 24 May 2001.
  7. "Champions League final runners-up XI: The best players never to win it". Sky Sports. 6 June 2015.
  8. "Rafa Benítez: 10 key wins in new Newcastle United manager's career". The Guardian. 12 March 2016.
  9. "Ayala será jugador del Real Zaragoza". Real Zaragoza. 14 July 2007. Archived from the original on 11 August 2007. Retrieved 14 July 2007.
  10. "Zaragoza put an end to Ayala saga". UEFA. 17 July 2006. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
  11. "Roberto Ayala llegó a Argentina para incorporarse a Racing Club".
  12. "Centurion Ayala eyes main prize". FIFA. 29 June 2006. Retrieved 26 June 2007.
  13. "Messi inspires Argentina to 4–3 win over Algeria". China Daily. 5 June 2007. Retrieved 6 June 2007.
  14. "Ayala: "Mi ciclo en la Selección está terminado"" (in Spanish). www.clarin.com. 17 July 2007.
  15. 26, Diario. "Roberto Ayala se retiró del fútbol".CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. Roberto Ayala es el nuevo coordinador del fútbol de Racing, lanacion.com.ar, 21 December 2011
  17. Por la interna dirigencial, Roberto Ayala dejará de ser el Manager de Racing, elintransigente.com, 19 September 2013
  18. Roberto Ayala regresa al Valencia para 'pescar' los nuevos talentos de Sudamérica, elconfidencial.com, 23 December 2013
  19. Gary Neville to Valencia: Spanish fans will give latest coach little time to bed in, independent.co.uk, 2 December 2015
  20. "Roberto Ayala". BBC Sport. 22 May 2002. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  21. "Roberto Fabián Ayala – Century of International Appearances". RSSSF. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  22. International Matches 1998 Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
  23. "South American Team of the Year". RSSSF. 16 January 2009. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  24. "UEFA Club Football Awards". UEFA. 1 May 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  25. Karel Stokkermans (14 March 2007). "ESM XI". RSSSF. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  26. "France, Italy dominate World Cup all-star squad". CBC. 7 July 2006. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
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