Rubén Hugo Ayala Sanabria (born 8 January 1950 in

Santa Fe, Argentina Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz (; usually called just Santa Fe) is the capital city of the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It is situated in north-eastern Argentina, near the junction of the Paraná and Salado rivers. It lies from the Hernandar ...

) is a former

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish ( masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines ...

football player and manager, who played as a forward.

Playing career

Born in Humboldt, Las Colonias Department,

Santa Fe Province The Province of Santa Fe ( es, Provincia de Santa Fe, ) is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco (divided by the 28th parallel south), Corrientes, Entre R ...

, Ayala played club football for

Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro, commonly known as San Lorenzo de Almagro or simply San Lorenzo (in English: ''Saint Lawrence''), is a sports club of Argentina in the Boedo district of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its football tea ...

in Argentina where he was part of the team that famously went unbeaten for the whole of the 1972

Nacional championship The Campeonato Nacional was one of the two football tournaments that formed the Primera División season (along with the Metropolitano championship) since 1967. The Nacional championship was played annually until its last edition in 1985. The Na ...

. In 1973, he left for

Atlético de Madrid Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico * Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic C ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

where he won several titles. In 1979, he moved to

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

to play for Club Jalisco and Atlante F.C. During his playing career he earned 25 caps and scored 11 goals for the

Argentina national football team The Argentina national football team represents Argentina in men's international football and is administered by the Argentine Football Association, the governing body for football in Argentina. Nicknamed ''La Albiceleste'' ('The White and ...

, and played in the

1974 FIFA World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the tenth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the ...

(scoring against Haiti). He was nicknamed ''Ratón'' (Mouse) due to his short height.

Managerial career

After retiring as a player Ayala took up coaching in Mexico he has been manager of Cobras de Querétaro (1986–1987), Tampico-Madero (1987–1988), Cobras de Ciudad Juárez (1988–1989), Correcaminos (1992–1994) and C.F. Pachuca (2000–2005). During his time with Pachuca he guided them to two league titles the Invierno 2001 and the Apertura 2003 as an assistant coach.

Honours

References

External links

La Liga statistics
* * 1950 births Living people Argentine footballers Argentine people of Spanish descent Argentine emigrants to Spain 1974 FIFA World Cup players Argentine Primera División players San Lorenzo de Almagro footballers Liga MX players Atlante F.C. footballers La Liga players Atlético Madrid footballers Argentina international footballers Argentine expatriate footballers Association football forwards People from Las Colonias Department Argentine football managers C.F. Pachuca managers Expatriate footballers in Mexico Sportspeople from Santa Fe Province {{argentina-footy-forward-stub