Maximiliano Nicolás "Maxi" Moralez (born 27 February 1987) is an Argentine professional

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 le ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

for

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 ...

club

Racing In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific goa ...

. He is nicknamed ''frasquito'' (English: little flask).

Club career

Moralez started playing professionally for

Racing Club Racing Club may refer to: Football * Racing Club Abidjan, Ivory Coast * K.R.C. Genk, Belgium * Racing Club Bafoussam, Cameroon * Racing Club Beirut, Lebanon * Racing Club de Avellaneda, Argentina * Racing Club Haïtien, Haiti * Racing Club Port ...

in the

during the 2005 Clausura tournament, entering the field on a 2–2 draw with Colón. In 2007, Moralez was bought by

FC Moscow :''This article refers to the Moscow government team formed in 2004. For the predecessors in the Russian Premier League, see FC Torpedo-ZIL and FC Torpedo-Metallurg.'' FC Moscow (Russian: Футбольный клуб Москва) was a Russian f ...

. However, after only half a season in the Russian club, he was loaned back to Racing Club. Moralez helped his club avoid relegation during the 2007–08 season, scoring the winning goal against Belgrano in the relegation playoff. For the 2009 Clausura tournament, Moralez was bought by Vélez Sársfield. During his first season in the club, he helped the team become Argentine champion, playing 14 (out of 19) games and scoring 5 goals. He scored the winning goal against

Huracán Huracan (; es, Huracán; myn, Hunraqan, "one legged"), often referred to as ''U Kʼux Kaj'', the "Heart of Sky", is a Kʼicheʼ people, Kʼicheʼ Maya mythology, Maya god of wind, storm, fire and one of the creator deities who participated in ...

on the 83rd minute of the final game, giving Vélez the 1–0 victory necessary to win the championship. During the following tournament, the 2009 Apertura, Moralez was Vélez' top goalscorer (along

Jonathan Cristaldo Jonatan Ezequiel Cristaldo (born 5 March 1989), nicknamed "Churry", is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a striker for Newell's Old Boys in the Argentine Primera División. Club career Cristaldo made his debut for Vélez Sárs ...

) with 5 goals each. On 5 March 2011, Moralez renewed his contract with Vélez until June 2013. During that semester, he won his second league title with the club (the 2011 Clausura) playing 15 of the 19 games, and scoring 4 goals. He also played 11 of the 12 games of his team's

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

semi-finalist campaign, scoring 5 goals. On 27 July 2011,

Atalanta B.C. Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio, commonly referred to as Atalanta, is a professional football club based in Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy. The club plays in Serie A, having gained promotion from Serie B in 2010–11. Atalanta was founded in 1907 by Lic ...

, recently promoted to the

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

, paid Moralez's buyout clause to Vélez Sársfield (€8 million for the 50% transfer rights owned by Vélez). The Argentine midfielder was introduced by his new club three days later. On 24 December 2015, Jesús Martínez Murguía (León's President), confirmed that Moralez would be playing the 2016 tournament with

Club León Club León Fútbol Club, also known as León, is a Mexican professional football club based in León, Guanajuato, that competes in the Liga MX, the top flight of Mexican football. León has won the Primera División de México/Liga MX title ...

. On 15 February 2017,

New York City FC New York City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in New York City that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), the highest level of American soccer, as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. The club is co-owned ...

announced that he had been signed as a

Designated Player The Designated Player Rule, nicknamed the Beckham Rule, allows Major League Soccer franchises to sign up to three players that would be considered outside their salary cap (either by offering the player higher wages or by paying a transfer fee ...

International career

In 2007, Moralez was called for the Argentina under-20 squad for the

South American Youth Championship The South American Youth Football Championship, also known as U-20 South American Championship and es, Torneo Juventudes de América, "Campeonato Sudamericano Sub 20" or pt, Juventude da América (English: "America's Youth") is a South American ...

held in

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 ...

. Later that year he was part of Argentina FIFA W-20 World Cup title winning team. He played along

Sergio Agüero Sergio Leonel Agüero del Castillo (born 2 June 1988), also known as Kun Agüero, is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is considered one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest playe ...

and

Mauro Zárate Mauro Matías Zárate (; born 13 March 1987) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward Argentine Primera División club Club Atlético Platense Zárate started his career with Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield, Vélez Sarsfie ...

in the attack. Moralez was third highest scorer in the tournament (bronze shoe) and was named second best player (silver ball), behind his teammate Agüero. In November 2010, Moralez was selected as part of an Argentine league squad to train twice weekly with the Argentina national team. He made his senior international debut on a 4–1 friendly victory over

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 ...

on 16 March 2011.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Vélez Sársfield *

: 2009 Clausura, 2011 Clausura New York City FC *

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conference ...

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Campeones Cup The Campeones Cup is an annual North American association football match contested between the winners of the previous MLS Cup from Major League Soccer and the winners of the Campeón de Campeones from Liga MX. The competition was established by ...

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Argentina U20 *

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 whe ...

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Individual *FIFA U-20 World Cup Silver Ball:

*FIFA U-20 World Cup Bronze Shoe:

MLS All-Star The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual Association football, 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 tr ...

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MLS Best XI The MLS Best XI is an annual acknowledgment of the best eleven players in Major League Soccer. Winners *Players in bold were awarded the Landon Donovan MVP Award for that season. Most appearances by a player The following players have appeared ...

References

External links

Profile
at Vélez Sársfield official website *
Maximiliano Moralez Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moralez, Maximiliano 1987 births Living people People from Rosario Department Sportspeople from Santa Fe Province Argentine footballers Association football midfielders Racing Club de Avellaneda footballers FC Moscow players Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield footballers Atalanta B.C. players Club León footballers New York City FC players Argentine Primera División players Russian Premier League players Serie A players Liga MX players Designated Players (MLS) Major League Soccer players Argentina under-20 international footballers Argentina international footballers Argentine expatriate footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Russia Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Argentine expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate footballers in Russia Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Mexico Expatriate soccer players in the United States