Luis Moreno (born 19 March 1981) is a Panamanian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

defender who last played for Tauro. He gained notoriety after violently kicking an injured

barn owl The barn owl (''Tyto alba'') is the most widely distributed species of owl in the world and one of the most widespread of all species of birds, being found almost everywhere except for the polar and desert regions, Asia north of the Himalaya ...

that had landed on the pitch during a league match between

Junior de Barranquilla Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

and

Deportivo Pereira Deportivo Pereira is a professional Colombian football team based in Pereira, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Hernán Ramírez Villegas stadium. History Early years While there are several ...

. The barn owl died due to the kick.

Club career

Born in

Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...

, "Lucho" Moreno began playing football with Venezuelan side Deportivo Italia. He was signed by first division club Tauro in 2001. He had a brief spell with Colombian side

Envigado Envigado () is a town southeast of Medellín, Colombia in the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley. It borders El Poblado, Medellín to the north, Sabaneta to the south, El Retiro and Caldas to ...

during 2005 and 2006, before returning to Tauro. Peruvian side

Universitario de Deportes Club Universitario de Deportes, popularly known as Universitario or simply as La "U", is a Peruvian football club located in Lima. The club was founded in 1924 under the name Federación Universitaria by students of the National University of S ...

attempted to sign him in 2006, but he stayed with Tauro. In January 2007, Moreno returned to the Colombian league, joining

Independiente Santa Fe Club Independiente Santa Fe, known simply as Santa Fe, is a Colombian professional football team based in Bogotá, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the El Campín stadium. Santa Fe is one of the th ...

. The club terminated his contract in May 2007, after a disciplinary incident. He returned to Tauro, but shortly after joined Mexican

Primera División A Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

side Tiburones Rojos. Moreno was loaned to

in January 2011, but returned to Tauro later that year, where he would help the club win its tenth league title in 2013.

International career

Moreno made his debut for

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

in a June 2000

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

and has earned a total of 76 caps, scoring no goals. He represented his country in 17

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

matches and has been a key member of the side, participating in the 2005, 2007 and 2009

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

finals. His final international was a September 2011 friendly match against

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

Honours

* CONCACAF Gold Cup All-Tournament Team:

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 ...

Owl kicking incident

During a February 2011 league match between

and

, Junior's unofficial mascot owl landed on the field during play and was struck by a pass. As the owl lay stunned on the field, Moreno, from the opposing team, kicked it approximately 3 meters (~10 feet) to the touchline. Shortly after, he claimed he was prompting it to fly awayFootball player faces sanctions for kicking injured owl in Colombia
, The Canadian Press, February 28, 2011. but in a later interview he admitted "The kick was a product of tension on the field at the time." The owl was treated for its injuries at a local veterinary clinic, but later died of stress related to the incident. Moreno received a two-match ban, a $560 fine from Colombian football's governing body in addition to veterinary costs for the owl's treatment and was ordered to do community service at a zoo.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Moreno, Luis 1981 births Living people Footballers from Panama City Men's association football defenders Panamanian men's footballers Tauro F.C. players Envigado F.C. players Independiente Santa Fe footballers Deportivo Pereira footballers Categoría Primera A players Panama men's international footballers 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Panamanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Venezuela Expatriate men's footballers in Colombia Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Panamanian expatriate sportspeople in Venezuela Panamanian expatriate sportspeople in Colombia Panamanian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Association football controversies Animal welfare and rights in Colombia Animal cruelty incidents