Hugo Ayala

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Ayala and the second or maternal family name is Castro.
Hugo Ayala
Ayala with Mexico at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name Hugo Ayala Castro
Date of birth (1987-03-31) 31 March 1987 (age 37)
Place of birth Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s) Centre-back
Team information
Current team
 UANL (assistant)
Youth career
2000–2002 Morelia
2002–2006 Atlas
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2008 Académicos[2] 11 (1)
2006–2010 Atlas 82 (3)
2010–2022 Tigres UANL 395 (6)
Total 488 (10)
International career
2006–2007 Mexico U20 12 (0)
2007–2008 Mexico U23 14 (0)
2009–2018 Mexico 47 (1)
Managerial career
2023– UANL (assistant)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Mexico
Pan American Games
Bronze medal – third place 2007 Rio de Janeiro Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Hugo Ayala Castro (born 31 March 1987) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a centre-back.

A clean and technical defender, Ayala is best known for his seasons and achievements with Liga MX club Tigres UANL.

Club career

Atlas

Hugo Ayala started his professional career with Atlas. He made his official debut in 2006 as a starter against C.D. Guadalajara. Although Atlas lost 3–1 he became an often used substitute ending the season. In the next season he starting showing great talent in defending and became a starter in Atlas's defensive line up, leading Atlas all the way to the quarter-finals to face Club América, but lost to them in an aggregate score of (7–4). Throughout his career with Atlas he was mostly used as a substitute until the manager, Ricardo La Volpe, took his place as manager of Atlas. La Volpe then started having confidence in Ayala, and made Ayala a starter and captain for Atlas.

Tigres UANL

On 2010, he arrived to Tigres UANL and by 2011 he already was the starter centre-back along with Juninho, both key players for the Apertura 2011 championship. Ayala was named best defender of the Apertura 2011 season alongside teammate Jorge Torres Nilo. Ayala, a starter in Tigres since 2011, later would become champion with the team in the Apertura 2015, Apertura 2016, Apertura 2017 and Clausura 2019 seasons besides runner-up of the 2015 Copa Libertadores. He retired in 2023, and became assistant for Tigres' head coach Marco Antonio Ruiz.

International career

In May 2018, Ayala was named in Mexico's preliminary 28-man squad for the World Cup in Russia,[3] and was ultimately included in the final 23-man roster revealed on 4 June.[4] He would go on to appear in the opening group stage match against Germany, which Mexico won 1–0, and the round-of-16 loss against Brazil.

Career statistics

As of 12 September 2018[5]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Mexico 2009 2 0
2010 1 0
2012 4 0
2013 4 0
2014 3 0
2015 10 0
2016 5 0
2017 9 0
2018 9 1
Total 47 1
Scores and results list Mexico's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ayala goal.
List of international goals scored by Hugo Ayala[6]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 31 January 2018 Alamodome, San Antonio, United States  Bosnia and Herzegovina 1–0 1–0 Friendly

Honours

Tigres UANL

Individual

References

  1. ^ "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 4 June 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  2. ^ "LIGA MX - Página Oficial de la Liga Mexicana del Fútbol Profesional".
  3. ^ "Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 squad - Final 23-man lists". Goal.com. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  4. ^ "Convocatoria de la Selección Nacional de México". MiSeleccion.mx (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  5. ^ "Hugo Ayala". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  6. ^ "Ayala, Hugo". National Football Teams. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  7. ^ "Mexico leads way in Concacaf Men's Best XI". Concacaf.com. 15 January 2019. Archived from the original on 17 January 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  8. ^ Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League [@TheChampions] (23 December 2020). "¡Qué lujo de equipo! Aquí están los mejores jugadores de #SCCL2020" (Tweet) (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 January 2021 – via Twitter.