Javier Morales (born 10 January 1980) is an Argentine former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He currently serves as an academy coach at

Inter Miami CF Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami, known as Inter Miami CF or simply Inter Miami, is an American professional soccer club based in the Miami metropolitan area. Established in 2018, the club began play in Major League Soccer (MLS) in the 2020 ...

Career

Argentina

From 1998 to 2006, Morales played for four different clubs in the

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). Th ...

, including two stints each with

Lanús Lanús () is the capital of Lanús Partido, Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. It lies just south of the capital city Buenos Aires, in the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area. The city has a population of 212,152 (), and the Partido de Lan� ...

and

Arsenal de Sarandí An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. He spent most of that time with Avellaneda-based Arsenal, playing in 146 matches and scoring 15 goals for the club. He spent his last season in Argentina with Instituto before moving to Spain.

Spain

Morales spent 2006-07 with

UD Vecindario Unión Deportiva Vecindario is a Spanish football team based in Vecindario, Santa Lucía de Tirajana, Gran Canaria, in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded in 1962, it helds home games at ''Estadio Municipal de Vecindario'', with a ...

of the Spanish Second Division LIGA BBVA. In one lone season with the club, he scored five goals in 23 matches (20 starts).

United States

In August 2007, Morales moved to the United States to play for Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer. Morales was acquired by Real Salt Lake at the same time as fellow Argentines

Matias Mantilla Matias Ezequiel Mantilla (born 14 February 1981) is an Argentine footballer. Mantilla started his career in 2000 with Argentinos Juniors in the Primera Division Argentina. In 2002 the club were relegated, but Mantilla stayed with them until his ...

and

Fabián Espíndola Edgar Fabián Espíndola (born 4 May 1985) is an Argentine footballer who plays as a forward. Club career Early career Espíndola started his career in 2005 with Argentine giants Boca Juniors. He played six games for the club, but Boca failed ...

. Morales made an immediate impact for RSL—he tallied an assist 40 seconds into his MLS debut (August 29 vs. the Kansas City Wizards) - the fastest first assist in MLS history. His first career goal for RSL came September 19 against the Los Angeles Galaxy. He finished the season with one goal and two assists in seven matches (five starts). In his second season with RSL (2008), Morales emerged as a star player and team leader. He started 29 of Real Salt Lake's 30 contests, totaling 6 goals (tied with

Robbie Findley Robert Findley (born August 4, 1985) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a forward. He was capped 11 times by the United States national team, having made his international debut in 2007. Findley played college soc ...

for second-highest on the team, just behind

Yura Movsisyan Yura Movsisyan ( hy, Յուրա Մովսիսյան; born 2 August 1987) is an Armenian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Most notably, Movsisyan played for Spartak Moscow in the Russian Premier League. He played for the ...

). Morales tallied 15 assists, shattering the club record of 11 set by

Jeff Cunningham Jeff Cunningham (born August 21, 1976) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a forward. He is Major League Soccer's third-all-time leader in regular-season goals scored with 134. Youth and college Cunningham was born ...

in 2006. It was the second-highest total in the MLS that season, behind only league MVP

Guillermo Barros Schelotto Guillermo Barros Schelotto (; born 4 May 1973) is an Argentine football manager and former forward who currently manages the Paraguay national team. Barros Schelotto played 16 years of his professional career in the Argentine Primera Divis ...

of the Columbus Crew. His outstanding play guided RSL to the club's first-ever appearance in the MLS Cup Playoffs, where Morales figured in all three of the team's postseason goals, scoring one and assisting on two as RSL advanced to the Western Conference Final. During the offseason, Morales signed a contract extension to keep him in Salt Lake until 2012. In 2009, he continued as one of RSL's top players, although his numbers declined somewhat. His play has been solid enough to earn him a selection in the 2009

MLS All-Star Game The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring selected players from the league against an international club or selected players from Liga MX. MLS initially adopted a traditional all-star ga ...

. Already a fan favorite, Morales scored a spectacular goal in the team's 1-0 exhibition victory over

Club América Club de Fútbol América S.A. de C.V., commonly known as Club América or simply América, is a professional football club based in Mexico City. Nicknamed ''Las Águilas'' (The Eagles), it competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football ...

on July 11. Morales started off the 2010 MLS season with a bang, tallying two goals and an assist against the San Jose Earthquakes. On May 7, 2011, in a game against

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. The club played from 2005 to 2014 in Major League Soccer (MLS) and was a subsidiary of Mexican club C.D. Guada ...

, Morales suffered a fracture-dislocation in his left ankle after a challenge from

Marcos Mondaini Marcos Gustavo Mondaini (born 14 February 1985 in Sáenz Peña) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. Career South America Mondaini began his career in the youth ranks of top Argentine side Boca Juniors, debu ...

. He was out for over four months, returning to play on September 28, 2011. Morales announced that he would leave Real Salt Lake on November 3, 2016, having tallied more assists than any player in club history. He signed as a free agent with

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise be ...

on December 27, 2016. On April 12, 2018, Morales officially announced his retirement from playing professional football.

Coaching

Upon retirement, Morales became coach of the

Under-13 academy team, guiding the team to an international championship at the Copa Rayados Internacional tournament in Mexico. On February 19, 2019, he was named Academy Coach at

Personal life

Morales holds a U.S. green card which qualified him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.

Honors

Club

;Real Salt Lake *MLS Cup:

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

*Western Conference ''playoffs'':

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

;Individual *MLS All-Star(2):

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

References

External links

*
Argentine League Statistics
at Fútbol XXI
UD Vecindario webpage

Guardian statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morales, Javier 1980 births Living people Footballers from Buenos Aires Argentine footballers Argentine expatriate footballers Club Atlético Lanús footballers Arsenal de Sarandí footballers Newell's Old Boys footballers Instituto footballers UD Vecindario players Real Salt Lake players FC Dallas players Expatriate footballers in Spain Argentine Primera División players Expatriate soccer players in the United States Major League Soccer All-Stars Major League Soccer players Designated Players (MLS) Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in the United States Association football midfielders