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 Hernanda ...
) is a former
Argentine football player and manager, who played as a
forward.
Playing career
Born in Humboldt,
Las Colonias Department
The Las Colonias Department (in Spanish, ''Departamento Las Colonias'') is an administrative subdivision (''departamento'') of the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It is located in the center of the province. Starting from the east and going cloc ...
,
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 RÃ ...
, 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 team ...
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 N ...
.
In 1973, he left for
Atlético de Madrid in
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")
, i ...
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 Guatema ...
to play for
Club Jalisco and
Atlante F.C.
Atlante Fútbol Club, is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. Founded in 1916, Atlante were original members of the Mexican Primera División when it began in 1943.
Atlante has won three national league championships, t ...
During his playing career he earned 25 caps and scored 11 goals for the
Argentina national football team, and played in the
1974 FIFA World Cup (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
Club de Fútbol Pachuca is a Mexican professional football team based in Pachuca, Hidalgo, that competes in Liga MX. Founded by Cornish miners from Camborne and Redruth in 1901, it is one of the oldest football clubs in the Americas, and was ...
(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
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