Celso Rafael Ayala Gavilán (; born 20 August 1970) is a Paraguayan

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and former player who played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

Career

With 85 caps and six goals, Ayala one of the most capped players in the Paraguay national team.rsssf: Paraguay record international footballers
/ref> Ayala became a key player in Paraguay's outstanding defensive line in the 1990s, along with fellow defenders Francisco Arce and Carlos Gamarra. His characteristics were leadership in the field, good positioning and superb tackling and heading skills. Ayala made his international debut for the

Paraguay national football team The Paraguay national football team (), nicknamed ''La Albirroja,'' represents Paraguay in men's international Association football, football competitions, and are controlled by the Paraguayan Football Association, Asociación Paraguaya de Fút ...

on 3 March 1993 in the Copa Paz de Chico match against

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

(1–0 win) as a substitute.

Honours

Olimpia Asunción *

Nehru Cup The Nehru Cup was an international football tournament organised by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), named after the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. It was launched in 1982, but was not held from 1998 to 2006. After ...

: 1990 *

Supercopa Sudamericana The Supercopa Libertadores (English: ''Libertadores Supercup''), also known as the Supercopa Sudamericana, Supercopa Libertadores João Havelange, Supercopa João Havelange or simply Supercopa, was a football club competition contested annually be ...

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

* Copa Libertadores de America:

Copa Interamericana The Copa Interamericana () was an international association football, football competition endorsed by CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean) and CONMEBOL (South America). Established in 1969, it was discontinued in 1998 after CONCACAF ...

runner-up:

* Intercontinental Cup runner-up:

Recopa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana (), also known as Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club Association football, football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1988. It ...

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

* Torneo Republica: 1992 (undefeated) *

Copa CONMEBOL The Copa CONMEBOL () was an annual football cup competition organized by CONMEBOL between 1992 and 1999 for South American football clubs. During its time of existence, it was a very prestigious South American club football contest, similar to the ...

runner-up:

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

* Paraguayan league: 1993 (undefeated) * Supercopa Masters runner-up:

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

River Plate *

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

Primera División Argentina Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera Ely Rafael Primera Ros ...

: Apertura 1996, Clausura, 1997, Apertura 1997, Clausura 2002, Clausura 2003, Clausura 2004 * Intercontinental Cup runner-up:

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

Real Betis * Ramon de Carranza Trophy: 1999 Colo-Colo * Torneo Apertura: 2006 Paraguay U-23 * U-23 South American championship:

References

External links

International statistics
at

rsssf The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (''RSSSF'') is an international organisation dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ayala, Celso 1970 births Living people Footballers from Asunción Paraguayan men's footballers Club Olimpia footballers Rosario Central footballers Club Atlético River Plate footballers Men's association football defenders La Liga players Atlético Madrid footballers Real Betis players São Paulo FC players Colo-Colo footballers Olympic footballers for Paraguay Footballers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Paraguay men's international footballers Chilean Primera División players Argentine Primera División players 1993 Copa América players 1995 Copa América players 1997 Copa América players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 1999 Copa América players 2002 FIFA World Cup players Copa Libertadores–winning players Paraguayan football managers Club Deportivo Guabirá managers Sport Boys Warnes managers Club Nacional managers Club Sol de América managers Paraguayan Primera División managers Bolivian Primera División managers Paraguayan expatriate men's footballers Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Chile Expatriate men's footballers in Chile Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Bolivia Expatriate football managers in Bolivia Sportivo Luqueño managers Club Petrolero managers Club Deportivo Capiatá managers Independiente F.B.C. managers Club River Plate (Asunción) managers Deportivo Santaní managers Club 2 de Mayo managers 21st-century Paraguayan sportsmen