Araya began his career within the youth sector of
Colo-Colo before making his senior debut on 30 June 1968 in a match against
Santiago Morning. He remained in the club from 1968 until 1971, playing in 66 matches in 4 seasons. He was part of the winning squad for the
1970 Primera División de Chile and subsequently play in the
1971 Copa Libertadores. Despite wanting to further his career with the club, differences with the coaches would impede a long-term career with the club. This resulted in him then playing for
Lota Schwager in 1972, but that time was short-lived following an eight-game suspension following an ejection from a match. He then played for
Palestino in 1973 where he experienced his most successful seasons. He was part of the winning squads for the
1975 and
1977 Copa Chile and also the
1978 Primera División de Chile. These successes resulted in Araya playing in more editions of the Copa Libertadores including the
1976,
1978 and
1979 editions with the latter being notable as he set a currently unbroken record of maintaining clean play for 510 total minutes within the Copa Libertadores in 44 matches. As a part of this football dynasty, he played alongside other players such as
Elías Figueroa,
Óscar Fabbiani,
Sergio Messen,
Rodolfo Dubó and
Manuel Rojas. He would also play
futsal at several venues including the
Teatro Caupolicán. ==International career==