Roberto Ayala
Encyclopedia
Roberto Fabián Ayala nicknamed el Ratón (in English: "the Mouse"), is a former Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 football centre back.

Regarded as one of the best central defenders of his generation, Ayala captained
Captain (sports)
In team sports, a captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field...

 the Argentine national team
Argentina national football team
The Argentina national football team represents Argentina in association football and is controlled by the Argentine Football Association , the governing body for football in Argentina. Argentina's home stadium is Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti and their head coach is Alejandro...

 for more matches (63) than anyone else. He played in three World Cups
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...

 and made a total 115 international appearances, with only Javier Zanetti
Javier Zanetti
Javier Adelmar Zanetti is an Argentine footballer who plays for Serie A club Inter. Javier Zanetti has played for Inter since 1995, taking the captain's armband from 29 August 1999. Known for his versatility, he is adept on both the left and right wing, having played on both flanks as a fullback...

 getting more caps for Argentina. Roberto inherited the nickname of Ratón from Argentine 1974 World Cup
1974 FIFA World Cup
The 1974 FIFA World Cup, the tenth staging of the World Cup, was held in West Germany from 13 June to 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the current trophy, the FIFA World Cup Trophy, created by the Italian sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga, was awarded...

 player Rubén Ayala
Rubén Ayala
Rubén Hugo Ayala Zanabria is a former Argentine footballer.-Playing career:During his club career he played for Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro in Argentina where he was part of the team that famously went unbeaten for the whole of the 1972 Nacional championship.In 1973 he left for Atlético...

, though they are not related.

Early Career in Argentina

Ayala began his career in his native Argentina, playing for Ferro Carril Oeste
Ferro Carril Oeste
Club Ferro Carril Oeste, known simply as Ferro Carril Oeste or Ferro, is a sports club from the neighbourhood of Caballito, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The club was founded on July 28, 1904 by 95 railway workers from the Buenos Aires Western Railway...

. After three seasons, he moved to River Plate
Club Atlético River Plate
Club Atlético River Plate is an Argentine sports club based in the Nuñez neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its professional football team, which currently competes in Nacional B, the second tier of Argentine football....

 where his good form atrracted the attention of clubs in Europe.

Parma, Napoli & Milan

Italian club Parma FC brought the Argentine defender to Europe. However the club, having already used their quota of three non-EU players, loaned him to Napoli, who bought up half of his contract on a co-ownership deal. Ayala was bought by AC Milan at the end of the 1997-98 season and played there for two seasons until Valencia CF
Valencia CF
Valencia Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football club based in Valencia, Spain. They play in La Liga and are one of the most successful and biggest clubs in Spanish Football and European Football. Valencia have won six La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey trophies, two Fairs Cups which was the...

 bought him for £6.25 Million.

Valencia

During his 7 years at Valencia CF
Valencia CF
Valencia Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football club based in Valencia, Spain. They play in La Liga and are one of the most successful and biggest clubs in Spanish Football and European Football. Valencia have won six La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey trophies, two Fairs Cups which was the...

, he helped them reach one UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

 final in 2001. However his team lost to Bayern Munich in a penalty shoot-out after a 1-1 draw. In the latter of which he was voted the Best Defender of the 2001 UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

 season. The next year, Valencia won the 2001-02 Spanish La Liga
La Liga
The Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...

. In 2003-04, Valencia again won the Spanish La Liga and added the UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...

.

In 2004-05 injuries kept Ayala from much of the La Liga campaign and he missed the UEFA Super Cup 2004 victory over Porto
Porto
Porto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...

.

During his time with Valencia, he was widely regarded as one of the finest central defenders in the world, and with Valencia is where he would spend the majority of his peak playing career.

Villarreal and Real Zaragoza

In August 2006, he was not offered a new contract by sporting director Amedeo Carboni
Amedeo Carboni
Amedeo Carboni is a retired Italian footballer who played as a left defender.In a professional career which spanned 22 years and saw him appear in nearly 700 official games, he played mainly for Roma and Valencia , winning eight major titles for the two clubs combined.Carboni was capped 18 times...

. On February 7, 2007 Ayala announced he would join regional rivals Villarreal CF
Villarreal CF
Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. , usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or just Villarreal, is a Spanish Primera División football club based in Vila-real, a city in the province of Castellón within the Valencian Community...

 at the end of 2006/07. However, before having played for Villarreal, he joined Real Zaragoza
Real Zaragoza
Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. is a Spanish association football team from Zaragoza in Spain. Founded on 18 March 1932, Real Zaragoza have spent the majority of their 78 year history in the Spanish top-flight. Real Zaragoza are Spain's 9th highest ranked team in overall league points...

 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
Real Zaragoza
Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. is a Spanish association football team from Zaragoza in Spain. Founded on 18 March 1932, Real Zaragoza have spent the majority of their 78 year history in the Spanish top-flight. Real Zaragoza are Spain's 9th highest ranked team in overall league points...

.

On 3 May 2008, Ayala scored his first goal for Real Zaragoza in the 94th minute versus Deportivo La Coruña to lead Zaragoza to a 1-0 victory. Zaragoza however were relegated to the Spanish 2nd Division.
On Saturday, November 22, 2008, Roberto Ayala scored his second ever goal for Real Zaragoza in the 73rd minute as Real Zaragoza defeated SD Eibar 3-0. On Saturday, February 29, 2009, Ayala scored his third goal for Real Zaragoza in the 54th minute against Real Murcia as Zaragoza won the match 4-1.

In January 2010, Ayala's contract with Real Zaragoza was terminated by mutual consent.

Racing Avellaneda

On 2 February 2010 Racing Club de Avellaneda
Racing Club de Avellaneda
Racing Club is an Argentine professional football club from Avellaneda, a suburb of Greater Buenos Aires. Founded in 1903, Racing has been historically considered one of the "big five" clubs of Argentine football...

 signed the former Real Zaragoza
Real Zaragoza
Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. is a Spanish association football team from Zaragoza in Spain. Founded on 18 March 1932, Real Zaragoza have spent the majority of their 78 year history in the Spanish top-flight. Real Zaragoza are Spain's 9th highest ranked team in overall league points...

 centre-back on a free transfer. On December 30 he communicated Racing Club's board his retirement of professional football.

International career

He made his debut for Argentina on 16 November 1994, against Chile
Chile national football team
The Chilean national football team represents Chile in all major international football competitions. The team is controlled by the Federación de Fútbol de Chile which was established in 1895. They have appeared in eight World Cup tournaments and were hosts of the 1962 FIFA World Cup finishing in...

 under coach Daniel Passarella
Daniel Passarella
Daniel Alberto Passarella is a former Argentine football centre back and former manager of the Argentine and Uruguayan national football teams. He was captain of the Argentina team that won the 1978 World Cup...

.

Ayala played for Argentina at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Football at the 1996 Summer Olympics
The association football competition at the 1996 Summer Olympics was held in Birmingham, Alabama; Washington, D.C; Orlando, Florida; Miami, Florida; and Athens, Georgia....

, 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 moments before their first match against Nigeria
Nigeria national football team
The Nigeria national football team, nicknamed the Super Eagles or Green Eagles, is the national team of Nigeria and is controlled by the Nigeria Football Federation . The team has ranked as high as 5th in the FIFA World Rankings, in April 1994...

. He was then selected as an over-age player as Argentina won the gold medal
Football at the 2004 Summer Olympics
The football tournament at the 2004 Summer Olympics started on 11 August, , and ended on 28 August.The men's tournament is played by U-23 national teams, with up to three over age players allowed per squad...

 at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Football at the 2004 Summer Olympics
The football tournament at the 2004 Summer Olympics started on 11 August, , and ended on 28 August.The men's tournament is played by U-23 national teams, with up to three over age players allowed per squad...

.
Ayala played an integral part in the Argentine squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup
2006 FIFA 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 won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...

 in Germany. He played brilliantly throughout the tournament, and was picked as a member of the All Star Team. In the quarterfinal against Germany
Germany national football team
The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....

 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
Jens Lehmann
Jens Gerhard Lehmann is a German former football goalkeeper. He was voted UEFA Club Goalkeeper of the Year for the 1996–97 and 2005–06 seasons, and he has been selected for three World Cup squads. He was a member of Arsenal's Invincibles, playing every match of their famous unbeaten title winning...

.

On 30 May 2006, In a friendly match against Angola
Angola national football team
The Angola national football team, nicknamed Palancas Negras , is the national team of Angola and is controlled by the Federação Angolana de Futebol. Angola reached 45th in the FIFA Rankings in July 2002...

, Ayala completed 100 caps for Argentina.

One of the best defenders in Argentina history, on 7 February 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
France national football team
The France national football team represents the nation of France in international football. It is fielded by the French Football Federation , the governing body of football in France, and competes as a member of UEFA, which encompasses the countries of Europe...

 played in Stade de France
Stade de France
The Stade de France is the national stadium of France, situated just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. It has an all-seater capacity of 80,000, making it the fifth largest stadium in Europe, and is used by both the France national football team and French rugby union team for...

, Paris.

On 5 June 2007, in a friendly against Algeria
Algeria national football team
The Algeria national football team , nicknamed الأفنــاك, Les Fennecs , represents Algeria in association football and is controlled by the Fédération Algérienne de Football. Algeria's home ground is the Stade 5 Juillet 1962 in Algiers and their head coach is Vahid Halilhodžić.Algeria has qualified...

, Roberto Ayala captained Argentina for a record 58th international, having equalled Diego Maradona
Diego Maradona
Diego Armando Maradona is a retired Argentine football player and widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time. Over the course of his professional club career Maradona played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla and Newell's Old Boys, setting...

's mark of 57 in the 1-1 draw against Switzerland
Switzerland national football team
The Swiss national football team is the national football team of Switzerland...

 in Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...

 on Saturday 2 June.

On 17 July 2007, after playing in the Copa América 2007
Copa América 2007
The 2007 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, known simply as the 2007 Copa América or 2007 Copa América Venezuela, was the 42nd edition of the Copa América, the South-American championship for international association football teams...

 final against Brazil, 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 America." Javier Zanetti
Javier Zanetti
Javier Adelmar Zanetti is an Argentine footballer who plays for Serie A club Inter. Javier Zanetti has played for Inter since 1995, taking the captain's armband from 29 August 1999. Known for his versatility, he is adept on both the left and right wing, having played on both flanks as a fullback...

 took over from him as captain.

Personal life

His Real Name is "Fabian", Married to Veronica. Father of Five children Cinthia, Francisco, Sofía, Pilar, Martina.

Career statistics

|-
|1991-92
Primera División Argentina 1991-92
-Overview:The 1991-1992 season in Argentina saw River Plate win the Apertura championship and Newell's Old Boys win the Clausura championship.-Torneo Apertura :-Top Scorers:-Relegation:-Torneo Clausura :...

||rowspan="3"|Ferro Carril Oeste
Ferro Carril Oeste
Club Ferro Carril Oeste, known simply as Ferro Carril Oeste or Ferro, is a sports club from the neighbourhood of Caballito, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The club was founded on July 28, 1904 by 95 railway workers from the Buenos Aires Western Railway...

||rowspan="3"|Primera División
Primera División Argentina
The Primera División is a professional football league in Argentina. It is the country's premier football division and is at the top of the Argentine football league system. Contested by twenty clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Primera B Nacional. The season runs...

||18||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|1992-93
Primera División Argentina 1992-93
-Overview:1992-1993 saw Boca Juniors win the Apertura, it was their first official league title since 1981. The Clausura was won by Vélez Sársfield, their first title since 1968.-Torneo Apertura:-Top Scorers:-Relegation:-Torneo Clausura:-Notes-...

||36||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|1993-94
Primera División Argentina 1993-94
Statistics of Primera División Argentina in season 1993/1994.-Overview:1993-1994 in Argentine football saw River Plate win the Apertura championship and Independiente win the Clausura.-League Standings:-Top Scorer:-League Standings:-Top Scorers:...

||18||1||||||||||||||||
|-
|1993-94
Primera División Argentina 1993-94
Statistics of Primera División Argentina in season 1993/1994.-Overview:1993-1994 in Argentine football saw River Plate win the Apertura championship and Independiente win the Clausura.-League Standings:-Top Scorer:-League Standings:-Top Scorers:...

||rowspan="2"|River Plate
Club Atlético River Plate
Club Atlético River Plate is an Argentine sports club based in the Nuñez neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its professional football team, which currently competes in Nacional B, the second tier of Argentine football....

||rowspan="2"|Primera División
Primera División Argentina
The Primera División is a professional football league in Argentina. It is the country's premier football division and is at the top of the Argentine football league system. Contested by twenty clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Primera B Nacional. The season runs...

||16||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|1994-95
Primera División Argentina 1994-95
Statistics of Primera División Argentina in season 1994/1995.-Overview:The 1994-1995 season in Argentine football saw River Plate win the Apertura 1994 and San Lorenzo win the Cluasura 1995 tournaments.-League Standings:-Top Scorer:-League Standings:...

||24||0||||||||||||||||

|-
|1995-96
Serie A 1995-96
The 1995–96 Serie A title was won by A.C. Milan , with Juventus finishing as runners-up.-Final classification:-Results:-Top scorers:24 goals* Igor Protti...

||rowspan="3"|Napoli
S.S.C. Napoli
Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, commonly referred to as Napoli, is a professional Italian football club based in Naples and founded in 1926. The club has spent most of its history in Serie A, where it currently plays its 2011–12 season....

||rowspan="3"|Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

||29||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|1996-97||30||1||||||||||||||||
|-
|1997-98
Serie A 1997-98
Juventus won the title in controversial circumstances. In their match on Sunday, 26 April 1998, against eventual runners-up, Inter, Ronaldo was denied what appeared a clear penalty for Inter after being blocked by Mark Iuliano of Juventus. Had the penalty been awarded and then dispatched, the...

||28||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|1998-99
Serie A 1998-99
AC Milan won their 16th Scudetto, led by coach Alberto Zaccheroni. Lazio finished second, losing the title on the last day. Inter with an often Injured or rested Ronaldo had a disastrous season, finishing in 8th position, whereas Juventus impressive start was cut short by a bad injury to Alessandro...

||rowspan="2"|Milan
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...

||rowspan="2"|Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

||11||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|1999-00
Serie A 1999-00
Lazio won the title on the final day of the season in controversial cirumstances. Juventus, the only other team left in contention on the day lost their match against Perugia in terrible conditions at a rain-sodden Stadio Renato Curi, many considering the pitch unplayable. Pierluigi Collina the...

||13||0||||||||||||||||

|-
|2000-01||rowspan="7"|Valencia
Valencia CF
Valencia Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football club based in Valencia, Spain. They play in La Liga and are one of the most successful and biggest clubs in Spanish Football and European Football. Valencia have won six La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey trophies, two Fairs Cups which was the...

||rowspan="7"|La Liga
La Liga
The Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...

||28||1||||||||||||||||
|-
|2001-02||30||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|2002-03||31||1||||||||||||||||
|-
|2003-04||30||1||||||||||||||||
|-
|2004-05
2004–05 La Liga
2004–05 season was composed of the following clubs:* Albacete Balompié* Athletic Bilbao* Atlético Madrid* FC Barcelona* Real Betis* Deportivo de La Coruña* Espanyol* Getafe CF* Levante UD* Málaga CF* Real Mallorca* CD Numancia* CA Osasuna...

||17||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|2005-06
2005–06 La Liga
* Athletic Bilbao* Atlético Madrid* FC Barcelona* Betis* Cádiz CF* Celta de Vigo* Deportivo Alaves* Deportivo de La Coruña* Espanyol* Getafe CF* Málaga CF* RCD Mallorca* CA Osasuna* Racing de Santander* Real Madrid* Real Sociedad* Sevilla FC...

||23||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|2006-07||29||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|2007-08||rowspan="3"|Real Zaragoza
Real Zaragoza
Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. is a Spanish association football team from Zaragoza in Spain. Founded on 18 March 1932, Real Zaragoza have spent the majority of their 78 year history in the Spanish top-flight. Real Zaragoza are Spain's 9th highest ranked team in overall league points...

||La Liga
La Liga
The Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...

||33||1||||||||||||||||
|-
|2008-09||Segunda División
Segunda División
The Segunda División is the lower tier of the two professional football leagues in Spain. From the season 2008-09 onwards, the name of the league is Liga Adelante.-History:...

||26||3||||||||||||||||
|-
|2009-10
2009–10 La Liga
- Personnel and sponsoring :- Before the start of the season :- During the season :-League table:||rowspan=1 style="background-color:#F9F9F9;"|||rowspan=1 style="background-color:#F9F9F9;"|...

||La Liga
La Liga
The Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...

||13||0||||||||||||||||
112||1||||||||||||||||
111||1||||||||||||||||
260||13||||||||||||||||
468||15||||||||||||||||
Correct as of 14 June 2009
|-
|1994||3||0
|-
|1995||14||0
|-
|1996||6||0
|-
|1997||7||0
|-
|1998||13||1
|-
|1999||12||1
|-
|2000||11||1
|-
|2001||8||0
|-
|2002||1||0
|-
|2003||6||0
|-
|2004||10||1
|-
|2005||8||2
|-
|2006||7||1
|-
|2007||9||0
|-
!Total||115||7
|}

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Result Competition
1 February 19, 1998 Mendoza, Argentina
Mendoza, Argentina
Mendoza is the capital city of Mendoza Province, in Argentina. It is located in the northern-central part of the province, in a region of foothills and high plains, on the eastern side of the Andes. As of the , Mendoza's population was 110,993...

  Romanian League 2 – 1 Unofficial FriendlyInternational Matches 1998 Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 2008-03-12.
2 September 7, 1999 Porto Alegre
Porto Alegre
Porto Alegre is the tenth most populous municipality in Brazil, with 1,409,939 inhabitants, and the centre of Brazil's fourth largest metropolitan area . It is also the capital city of the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The city is the southernmost capital city of a Brazilian...

, Brazil
2 – 4 Friendly
Exhibition game
An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...

3 April 26, 2000 Maracaibo
Maracaibo
Maracaibo is a city and municipality located in northwestern Venezuela off the western coast of the Lake Maracaibo. It is the second-largest city in the country after the national capital Caracas and the capital of Zulia state...

, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

4 – 0 World Cup 2002 Qualifying
2002 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)
Listed below are the dates and results for the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the South American zone . For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification....

4 July 13, 2004 Piura
Piura
Piura is a city in northwestern Peru. It is the capital of the Piura Region and the Piura Province. The population is 377,496.It was here that Spanish Conqueror Francisco Pizarro founded the third Spanish city in South America and first in Peru, San Miguel de Piura, in July 1532...

, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

4 – 2 Copa América 2004
Copa América 2004
The Copa América 2004 was the 41st edition of the Copa América, the South-American championship for international association football teams. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body, and was held in Peru, who hosted the tournament for the sixth time,...

5 November 12, 2005 Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...

, Switzerland
2 – 3 Friendly
Exhibition game
An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...

6 November 16, 2005 Doha
Doha
Doha is the capital city of the state of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf, it had a population of 998,651 in 2008, and is also one of the municipalities of Qatar...

, Qatar
Qatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...

3 – 0 Friendly
Exhibition game
An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...

7 June 30, 2006 Berlin, Germany 1 – 1 (2-4 PS) 2006 FIFA World Cup
2006 FIFA 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 won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...


Honours

Valencia

Winner
  • 2001-02, 2003-04 La Liga
    La Liga
    The Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...

  • 2003-04 UEFA Cup
    UEFA Cup
    The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...

  • 2004
    2004 UEFA Super Cup
    The 2004 UEFA Super Cup was a UEFA-sponsored association football match between Porto of Portugal and Valencia of Spain, held on 27 August 2004 at the Stade Louis II in Monaco. The match was the 29th annual UEFA Super Cup contested between the winners of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup...

     UEFA Super Cup

External links

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