Roberto Fabián Ayala (; born 14 April 1973), nicknamed ''El Ratón'' ("The Mouse"), is an Argentine former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for the

Argentina national football team The Argentina national football team (), nicknamed ''La Albiceleste'' (), represents Argentina in men's international Association football, football and is administered by the Argentine Football Association, Asociación del Fútbol Argentino ( ...

, as well as

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

and

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

in Spain,

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

and

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

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 Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

s and made a total of 115 international appearances, behind only

Javier Mascherano Javier Alejandro Mascherano (; born 8 June 1984) is an Argentine Association football, football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Major League Soccer club Inter Miami. As a player, he played as a centre-back or defensive ...

Javier Zanetti Javier Adelmar Zanetti (, ; born 10 August 1973) is an Argentine former professional footballer. Regarded as one of the greatest right-backs of all time, Zanetti is well known for having dedicated almost his entire career at Inter Milan, having ...

and

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Major League Soccer ...

in terms of international appearances.

Club career

Early career in Argentina

Ayala began his career in his native Argentina, playing for

Ferro Carril Oeste Club Ferro Carril Oeste, known simply as Ferro Carril Oeste or familiarly, Ferro, is an Argentine sports club from the neighbourhood of Caballito, Buenos Aires. Although many activities are hosted by the club, Ferro is mostly known for its assoc ...

. After three seasons, he moved to River Plate where his good form attracted the attention of clubs in Europe.

Move to Europe

Parma, Napoli and Milan

Italian side

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

brought the Argentine defender to Europe. However, the club, having already used their quota of three non- EU players, loaned him to

, who purchased 50% of his rights on a co-ownership deal. Ayala was bought by

at the end of the 1997–98 season and played there for two seasons until

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. On 24 September 2000, Ayala made his debut for Valencia in a 3–0

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

win over Numancia. 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 The 2001 UEFA Champions League final was a football match that took place at San Siro in Milan, Italy, on 23 May 2001, to decide the winner of the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League. The match pitted German side Bayern Munich against Spanish side ...

, where Valencia lost 5–4 to

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

after a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

. He was later named best defender for the 2000–01 tournament. The following season, Ayala was part of the Valencia team that won the

2001–02 La Liga The 2001–02 La Liga season was the 71st since its establishment. It began on 25 August 2001, and concluded on 11 May 2002. Teams Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams pro ...

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify their generation, official position, military rank, professional or academic qualification, or nobility. In some languages, titles may be ins ...

. He scored the opening goal of a 2–0 defeat of

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

which secured the championship on 5 May 2002. In 2003–04, Valencia again won the

title and beat

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

2–0 in

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

to win the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

. During the 2004–05 season, injuries kept Ayala from much of the La Liga campaign as well as the

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

victory over

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

. 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.

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 Villarreal (officially, in ) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's capital ( ...

at the end of the season, however before having played for Villarreal, he joined

on a three-year deal on 14 July 2007. The buy-out clause in his contract with Villarreal was

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

6 million (£4.8 million) which was paid in full by

. On 3 May 2008, Ayala scored his first goal for Real Zaragoza in the 94th minute against

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...

to lead Zaragoza to a 1–0 victory. Zaragoza, however, were relegated to the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

. On 22 November 2008, Ayala scored his second goal for Zaragoza, in the 73rd of a 3–0 win over

Eibar Eibar (, ) is a city and municipality within the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Autonomous Community of Euskadi. It is the capital of the '' eskualde / comarca'' of Debabarrena. Eibar has 27,138 inhabitants ( Eustat, 2018). Its chief industry is ...

. On 29 February 2009, he scored his third goal coming in the 54th minute against

Real Murcia Real Murcia Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., commonly known as Real Murcia (, "Royal Murcia"), is a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the Región de Murcia. Founded in 1919, it currently plays in , playing home matches at Estadio Nueva Condo ...

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.

International career

Ayala made his debut for Argentina on 16 November 1994 against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

under coach

Daniel Passarella Daniel Alberto Passarella (born 25 May 1953) is an Argentine former Association football, footballer and Manager (association football), manager, who is considered one of the greatest Defender (association football), defenders of all time. As a ...

. Ayala played for Argentina U23 at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, winning the silver medal. He played for Argentina in the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

and was a non-playing squad member in the

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

competition due to a last-minute injury moments before their first match against

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. He was selected as one of the three overage players then Argentina U23 won the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

. Ayala played an integral part in the Argentine squad for the

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams represe ...

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 Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, 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 Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

, Ayala earned his 100th cap for Argentina. 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 Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

), beating his friend Diego Simeone, in a friendly victory 1–0 against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

played in the

Stade de France Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the List of football stadiums in France, largest stadium i ...

in Paris. On 5 June 2007, in a friendly against

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

, Ayala captained Argentina for a record 58th international, having equalled

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona Franco (30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional association football, football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two ...

's mark of 57 in the 1–1 draw against

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

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 Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, 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."

took over from him as captain.

After retiring

Racing Club

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

Valencia CF

In December 2013, Ayala was hired as a technical director / sport director for

, where he was going to be the responsible for the whole South American area. The role also involved him scouting in that area to find young talents. He left the club in the middle of 2015.

Argentina

On 10 January 2019, Ayala joined the technical staff of the

as a field assistant of manager Lionel Scaloni.Roberto Ayala se sumará al cuerpo técnico de la Selección Argentina
theguardian.com, 10 January 2019

Style of play

Regarded as one of the best and most accomplished defenders of all time, 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.

Personal life

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

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Argentina's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ayala goal''.

Honours

Player

River Plate *

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...

: 1994 Apertura Napoli *

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

runner-up: 1996-97 Milan *

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

: 1998–99 Valencia *

: 2001–02, 2003–04 *

: 2003–04 *

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

runner-up: 2000–2001 *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

runner-up:

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

Argentina *

Olympic Gold Medal Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

runner-up:

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBO ...

runner-up:

Individual * South American Team of the Year: 1994 * UEFA Club Best Defender of the Year: 2000–01 * European Sports Media Team of the Year: 2003–04 *

Team of the Tournament:

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

All-Star Team *

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

Argentina All Times Dream Team (Team B): 2021

Managerial

Argentina (as assistant manager) *

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

; third place:

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions The Finalissima or officially CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions, formerly known as European/South American Nations Cup and also called Artemio Franchi Cup, is an intercontinental football match organised by CONMEBOL and UEFA and contested by th ...

References

External links

* at Fútbol XXI {{DEFAULTSORT:Ayala, Roberto Argentine men's footballers Argentina men's international footballers Argentine sportspeople of Italian descent Men's association football central defenders Men's association football sweepers AC Milan players Ferro Carril Oeste footballers Club Atlético River Plate footballers SSC Napoli players Valencia CF players UEFA Europa League–winning players Real Zaragoza players Racing Club de Avellaneda footballers La Liga players Serie A players Olympic footballers for Argentina Olympic gold medalists for Argentina Olympic silver medalists for Argentina Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics 1998 FIFA World Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 1995 King Fahd Cup players 1995 Copa América players 1999 Copa América players 2004 Copa América players 2007 Copa América players Footballers from Paraná, Entre Ríos 1973 births Living people Argentine people of Basque descent FIFA Men's Century Club Argentine expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Argentine Primera División players Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for Argentina Pan American Games gold medalists in football Footballers at the 1995 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games 20th-century Argentine sportsmen 21st-century Argentine sportsmen

Club career

Early career in Argentina

Move to Europe

Parma, Napoli and Milan

Valencia

Villarreal and Real Zaragoza

Racing Avellaneda

International career

After retiring

Racing Club

Valencia CF

Argentina

Style of play

Personal life

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Player

Managerial

See also

References

External links