Roberto Ayala

Roberto Fabián Ayala (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 Ferro Carril, River Plate and Racing Club in his native Argentina.

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 in spite of his small stature as a centre back.

Ayala captained Argentina in a record 63 matches.

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.

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.

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

Ayala played for Argentina U23 at the 1996 Summer Olympics, winning the silver medal.

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.

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.

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

On 24 September 2000, Ayala made his debut for Valencia in a 3–0 La Liga win over Numancia.

He was later named best defender for the 2000–01 tournament.

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.

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.

In 2003–04, Valencia again won the La Liga title and beat Marseille 2–0 in Gothenburg to win the UEFA Cup.

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.

He was selected as one of the three overage players then Argentina U23 won the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

In August 2006, Ayala was not offered a new contract by sporting director Amedeo Carboni.

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.

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.

The buy-out clause in his contract with Villarreal was €6 million (£4.8 million) which was paid in full by Real Zaragoza.

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.

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.

Ayala stated, "it has nothing to do with what happened in the final of the Copa América."

Javier Zanetti took over from him as captain.

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.

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.

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