ROBERTO AYALA

One of the world's top defenders in the early years of the 21st century, Argentinian Roberto Ayala began his senior career in 1991 with Ferro Carril Oeste, before earning a move to River Plate in 1994. A crucial part of the team which won the Apertura Championship later that year, his form for River Plate earned him a first call-up to the national team in November 1994, and the following year he appeared in the Copa América for the first time as Argentina reached the quarter finals.

Having caught the eye of several European sides, Ayala moved to Italy in 1995 to join SSC Napoli, where he stayed for three years. After a first World Cup appearance in France in 1998, where Argentina lost to last-minute Dennis Bergkamp goal for the Netherlands in the last eight, be moved on to AC Milan. In his first season in Milan, Ayala won the Serie A title and the appeared in a second Copa América in the summer of 1999. In 2000, Ayala moved on to Valencia in Spain, where the club won the league title in 2002. Unfortunately for Ayala, injury on the eve of the World Cup in Japan and Korea prevented him from taking part in the tournament.

Perhaps the most successful year of his career was in 2004, when Valencia again won the Spanish title and also claimed the U.E.F.A. Cup. In the Copa América in Peru, Argentina reached the final but Ayala was denied a first international title after a penalty-shoot out defeat to Brazil. Later in the same summer, Ayala appeared in the Olympic Games in Athens as an 'overage' player and, having won a silver medal in the games in Atlanta eight years earlier, went one better as Argentina took gold.

In 2006 Ayala appeared in the World Cup for the second time, and for a time Argentina's performances suggested that another title might be possible. However, although he scored his only World Cup goal to give Argentina the lead against Germany in the quarter final, the hosts hit back to force a penalty shoot-out where Ayala missed his kick as the Germans won 4-2.

In 2007, Argentina again reached the final of the Copa América but again were defeated by Brazil, with Ayala scoring an own goal before retiring from international football after the tournament. Earlier that year, Ayala had agreed to join Villareal but a last minute change of mind led to him moving to Real Zaragoza instead. His first season in Zaragoza was not successful, with the team being relegated on the final day of the season, but he remained with the club and helped them to win promotion back to the top division in 2009.