Moisés Alberto Muñoz Rodríguez (born 1 February 1980) is a Mexican former 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 lea ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. Muñoz began his career in 1999 with Monarcas Morelia, playing in over 200 matches for the club, before eventually moving to

Atlante Atlante or Atlantes may refer to: * Atlantes, the plural of Atlas (architecture), an architectural support in the form of a man * Atlante San Alejo, a Salvadoran football club * Atlante F.C., a Mexican football club * Atlante (private equity fund) ...

in 2010. In 2011, he was sold to

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

, with whom he won two league titles and two

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, ...

titles. He also had loan stints with

Chiapas Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises Municipalities of Chiapas, 124 municipalities and its capital and large ...

and

Puebla Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...

before retiring in 2018. He has also been called up to the Mexico national team, making his debut in 2004 and was a part of the national team which finished in fourth place at the

2005 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup association football, football tournament was the seventh FIFA Confederations Cup. It was held in Germany between 15 June and 29 June 2005, as a prelude to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The tournament was won by 2002 FI ...

. In June 2012, Muñoz was involved in a car accident while driving from

Morelia Morelia (; from 1545 to 1828 known as Valladolid; Otomi language, Otomi: ) is a city and municipal seat of the municipalities of Mexico, municipality of Morelia in the north-central part of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. It is both th ...

Early life

Muñoz was born in

Aguililla Aguililla is a city in the Mexico, Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Michoacán. It is the municipal seat for the Aguililla (municipality), surrounding municipality of the same name. The municipality has a population of roughly 15,000. ...

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo, is one of the 31 states which, together with Mexico City, compose the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The stat ...

, on 1 February 1980. Muñoz speaks English fluently, having been educated in

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

during his formative years, attending elementary school and junior high school in

Redwood City Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in the Bay Area of Northern California, approximately south of San Francisco and northwest of San Jose. The city's population was 84,292 according to the 2020 census. The Port of Redwo ...

as an undocumented child of migrant workers. He never legalized his status in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, but his parents have U.S. resident status and live in San Jose. He returned to Mexico before high school and by age 19 was playing for his hometown club in Morelia.

Club career

Morelia

Moisés Muñoz made his league debut with Monarcas Morelia on 19 September 1999 against

Pachuca Pachuca (; ), formally known as Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the east-central Mexico, Mexican States of Mexico, state of Hidalgo (state), Hidalgo, located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca Municipality, Pach ...

. Muñoz initially was used as back-up for

Ángel Comizzo Ángel David Comizzo Leiva (born 27 April 1962) is an Argentine football manager and former player who played as a goalkeeper. He is the current manager of Peruvian club Atlético Grau. Comizzo was born in Reconquista, and began his career at ...

. Morelia won the Invierno 2000 league tournament, achieving their first league title against

Toluca Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the States of Mexico, state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. Toluca has a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census. The city forms the core of the Grea ...

, with Muñoz failing to appear in a match. Muñoz did not become a regular starter until the Apertura 2002 season, the same season Morelia advanced to the league final against

, which they lost 4–2 on aggregate. The following season he helped Morelia advance to its second straight league final but lost to

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

. A native of the city of Morelia, he became a mainstay in the team, with his eleven years at the club one of the longest for a goalkeeper in the league. He played in 282 matches before being transferred to

in the 2010 Draft.

Atlante

For the Apertura 2010 tournament, Muñoz joined

in a trade for Argentine goalkeeper Federico Vilar. He would go on to be a permanent fixture for the club until his departure in 2011, making 53 league appearances.

América

On 25 November 2011, Muñoz joined

. In his debut tournament with the club – the Clausura 2012 – he started in 21 games and played in 90 minutes in 20 of them; he was subbed off in the second half of the league match against

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. In May 2013, Muñoz played his first league final with América, conceding the only goal in the 0–1 first-leg loss to

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul S.A. de C.V., commonly referred to as Cruz Azul, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football league system, Mexican footba ...

. His performance in the second-leg at the

Estadio Azteca Estadio Azteca () (officially known as Estadio Banorte for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium located in Coyoacán, Mexico City. It is the official home of football team Club América, as well as the Mexico national team. The stadium ...

on 26 May helped América achieve a dramatic comeback after losing 0–1, 0–2 on aggregate, to tie the match 1–1 in the 88th minute with a goal from captain

Aquivaldo Mosquera Aquivaldo Mosquera Romaña (born 22 June 1981) is a Colombian former professional footballer who played as a defender. He also holds Mexican citizenship. Club career Mosquera made his debut in 2000 playing for Atlético Nacional. He would ma ...

. In the 92nd minute, with seconds left of injury time, Muñoz scored a diving header off an Osvaldo Martínez corner, which deflected off Cruz Azul defender Alejandro Castro, to send the game into extra-time, and subsequently to a penalty shoot-out. He saved Javier Orozco's penalty kick, and América would go on to win the shoot-out 4–2 and win their eleventh league title. Muñoz's performance was praised by various media outlets. On 1 October 2016, Muñoz played his 500th league game in a 1–1 draw against

International career

Muñoz's first international cap for

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

was in a friendly match against

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

on 27 October 2004. Muñoz was the second-choice goalkeeper at both the

2004 Copa América The 2004 Copa América was the 41st edition of the Copa América, the South-American championship for international association football teams. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body, and was held in P ...

and the

2005 Confederations Cup The 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup football tournament was the seventh FIFA Confederations Cup. It was held in Germany between 15 June and 29 June 2005, as a prelude to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The tournament was won by 2002 FIFA World Cup and 2004 ...

. Muñoz was the starting goalkeeper during the

2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the eighth edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). It was contested in the United States in July 2005. The United States emerged victorious i ...

. Coach

Ricardo La Volpe Ricardo Antonio La Volpe Guarchoni (; born 6 February 1952) is an Argentine former professional footballer and manager. He is a World Cup-winning goalkeeper who played for most of his career in Argentina and Mexico. As a coach, La Volpe was i ...

included him in the preliminary squad for the

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams represe ...

, but he did not make the final 23-man list. Muñoz had also been called up as a backup goalkeeper by

Hugo Sánchez Hugo Sánchez Márquez (born 11 July 1958) is a Mexican former professional Association football, footballer and Manager (association football), manager, who played as a Forward (association football), forward. A prolific goalscorer known for ...

and

Sven-Göran Eriksson Sven-Göran Eriksson (; 5 February 1948 – 26 August 2024) was a Swedish association football, football player and Coach (sport), manager. After a playing career as a right-back, Eriksson went on to experience major success in club management ...

. Five years after his last call up and eight years after his last cap, Muñoz was selected by coach

José Manuel de la Torre José Manuel de la Torre Menchaca (born 13 November 1965), popularly nicknamed ''Chepo'', is a Mexican former professional footballer and a manager. As a player, de la Torre played as an attacking midfielder. Playing career "Chepo" came up t ...

to Mexico's

2013 Gold Cup The 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 12th CONCACAF Gold Cup competition and the 22nd CONCACAF regional championship overall in CONCACAF's fifty years of existence. The United States was the host nation. The competition began on July 7, 2013, at the ...

squad. On 14 July 2013, he was the starting goalkeeper for Mexico's final group stage match against

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

, which Mexico won 3–1. During the match, Muñoz failed to save a penalty-kick from Kévin Parsemain. Later that year, after

Miguel Herrera Miguel Ernesto Herrera Aguirre (born 18 March 1968), popularly referred to by his nickname "Piojo" (Spanish for "louse"), is a Mexican professional football manager and former player. He is the current manager of the Costa Rica national te ...

took over as national team coach, Muñoz was named the starting goalkeeper for the 2014 World Cup qualification playoff matches against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. He played in both matches as Mexico won the playoff 9–3 on aggregate. He did not make the final 23-man squad for the

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

. In June 2015 Muñoz was named in Mexico's squad participating in the

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup () is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament is held every two ...

, being handed the number 1 jersey, instead of the number 23 he traditionally wears (which was instead given to

José Juan Vázquez José Juan Vázquez Gómez (; born 14 March 1988), also known as Gallito, is a former Mexican professional Association football, footballer who last played as a Midfielder#Defensive midfielder, defensive midfielder for Ecuadorian club S.D. Auc ...

). In October 2015, Muñoz was named in Mexico's squad for the

2015 CONCACAF Cup The CONCACAF Cup (officially the CONCACAF Cup presented by Scotiabank for sponsorship reasons) was an international soccer play-off match to determine CONCACAF's entry into the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. The 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup winner Uni ...

Outside football

Personal life

Muñoz is the cousin of fellow goalkeeper

Carlos Felipe Rodríguez Carlos Felipe Rodríguez Rangel (born 3 April 1989) is a Mexican professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Liga MX club Tigres UANL. Club career Rodríguez played for Mérid ...

. And also is the brother of the professional football player,

José Roberto Muñoz José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...

. Muñoz has stated that had he not decided on playing professional football he would have played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

. On 3 June 2012, while driving his

Honda Odyssey Honda Odyssey can refer to three motor vehicles manufactured by Honda: * Honda Odyssey (ATV), an all-terrain vehicle (1977—1989) * Honda Odyssey (minivan), a brand of two different Honda minivan models for different markets ** Honda Odyssey (i ...

through the highway that connects

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

with

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

, Muñoz lost control of his vehicle and flipped it on to its roof. He was heading to

at around 7:00 p.m. with his wife Verónica (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Castro Alfaro) and two kids, Héctor and Zafiro. All of them were taken to Ángeles del Pedregal hospital by helicopter – the same hospital where

Salvador Cabañas Salvador Cabañas Ortega (born 5 August 1980) is a Paraguayan former professional footballer who played as a striker internationally for the senior Paraguay national team, and earlier for the national U17 and U20 teams. Cabañas played for ...

, a former Club América player, was treated after being shot in the head. Apparently, the harsh rainfall in the area caused Muñoz to lose control of his vehicle. Moreover, according to reports by the Mexican

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

, Muñoz suffered from

traumatic brain injury A traumatic brain injury (TBI), also known as an intracranial injury, is an injury to the brain caused by an external force. TBI can be classified based on severity ranging from mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI/concussion) to severe traumati ...

but was "stable and conscious." Originally, it was reported that Muñoz's health condition was serious, but had improved as he received medical attention. It was later stated that his head wound was not life-threatening, nor would it affect his playing career. Muñoz only suffered a head wound and never lost consciousness of what had happened. He later revealed that he had suffered a broken finger. In an interview Moi said, “If God kept me alive, it’s because I will do something big.” Then in Clausura 2013 Final against La Maquina he scored the tying goal.

, manager of Club América, stated in a press conference what Muñoz had personally told him:

Media

In 2015, Muñoz made an appearance on the Mexican telenovela ''

La vecina ''La vecina'' (English title: ''The Neighbor'') is a Mexican comedy-telenovela produced by Lucero Suárez for Televisa. It is the remake of the telenovela '' La costeña y el cachaco'' produced in 2003 by RCN TV. In the United States, Univision br ...

''. Muñoz was an analyst for

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

during the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

Career statistics

International

Honours

Morelia *

Mexican Primera División Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divi ...

: Invierno 2000 * Selectivo Pre Pre-Libertadores: 2001 * Pre-Libertadores Tournament: 2001 América *

Liga MX Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...

: Clausura 2013, Apertura 2014 *

: 2014–15, 2015–16 Mexico *

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

CONCACAF Cup The CONCACAF Cup (officially the CONCACAF Cup presented by Scotiabank for sponsorship reasons) was an international soccer play-off match to determine CONCACAF's entry into the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. The 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup winner Unit ...

Notes

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Munoz, Moises 1980 births Living people Mexico men's international footballers 2004 Copa América players 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Liga MX players Atlético Morelia players Atlante F.C. footballers Jaguares F.C. footballers Footballers from Michoacán Men's association football goalkeepers People from Aguililla, Michoacán Club América footballers CONCACAF Gold Cup–winning players Mexican men's footballers CONCACAF Champions Cup–winning players 21st-century Mexican sportsmen