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Roberto Ayala
Personal information
Full name	Roberto Fabián Ayala
Date of birth	April 14, 1973 (age 33)
Place of birth	Paraná, Argentina
Nickname	El Ratón (The Mouse)
Playing position	Centre back
Club information
Current club	Valencia CF
Youth clubs
?	Ferrocarril Oeste
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1991–1994 1994–1995 1995–1998 1998–2000 2000–2007	Ferrocarril Oeste River Plate SSC Napoli A.C. Milan Valencia CF	72 (1) 40 (0) 87 (1) 24 (0) 174 (8)
National team
1994–present	Argentina	107 (7)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 3 february, 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Roberto Fabián Ayala (born 14 April 1973 in Paraná) is an Argentinian football player, who currently plays for the Spanish team Valencia. Regarded as one of the best central defenders in the world, has been captain of the Argentine national team for almost 10 years and has played in three World Cups.

Contents 1 Club 2 Country 3 Honours 3.1 International honours 3.2 Club honours 3.2.1 River Plate 3.2.2 AC Milan 3.2.3 Valencia CF 4 External links

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, respectively. The next year, Valencia won the 2001-02 Spanish La Liga. In the 2003-04 season, Valencia once again won the Spanish La Liga and added the UEFA Cup to their trophy cabinet. In the 2004-05 season a number of injuries kept Ayala from playing in much of the Liga campaign and he also missed out on the UEFA Super Cup 2004 victory over Porto. In his absence Valencia's results suffered. In August 2006, he said that he wanted to leave Valencia after he was not provided a new contract by the sporting director Amedeo Carboni. On February 7, 2007 He announced that he will be joining their regional rivals Villarreal CF on a 3 year contract which will keep him playing till 2010.

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. 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 tourment and was picked as one 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.

One of the best defenders in Argentina history, on February 7 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.

Olympic medal record
Competitor for  Argentina
Men's Football
Silver	1996 Atlanta	Team Competition
Gold	2004 Athens	Team Competition

Winner

• 2004 Olympic Games

Winner

• 1994 Apertura

Winner

• 1998-99 Serie A

Winner

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

• Roberto Ayala Tactical Formations at Football-Lineups.com

• Player stats at www.lfp.es

Preceded by Jaap Stam

UEFA Champions League Best Defender 2000-01

Succeeded by Roberto Carlos da Silva

	Argentina squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup Quarter-finalists
1 Roa | 2 Ayala | 3 Chamot | 4 Pineda | 5 Almeyda | 6 Sensini | 7 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

	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

	Argentina squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup Quarter-finalists
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

Valencia CF - Current Squad
1 Cañizares | 2 Miguel | 3 Del Horno | 4 Ayala | 5 Marchena | 6 Albelda | 7 Villa | 8 Baraja | 9 Morientes | 10 Angulo | 11 Regueiro | 13 Mora | 14 Vicente | 15 Joaquín | 16 Viana | 17 Navarro | 18 Jorge López | 19 Gavilán | 20 Albiol | 21 Silva | 22 Edu | 23 Torres | 24 Moretti | 25 Butelle | 26 Cerra | 28 Nacho Insa | 29 Córcoles | 30 Aarón Ñíguez | 31 Pallardó | Coach: Flores