Rogelio Gabriel Funes Mori (born 5 March 1991) is a 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 a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

Liga MX The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in a ...

club

Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...

. Born in Argentina, he represents the

Mexico national team The Mexico national football team () represents Mexico in international football and is governed by the Mexican Football Federation (). It competes as a member of CONCACAF. Mexico has qualified to seventeen World Cups and has qualified conse ...

. He began his career at River Plate before transferring to Benfica, after a brief stint in Turkey he signed with Liga MX club Monterrey in the summer of 2015 and quickly established himself as one of the league's best strikers, winning the league, two domestic

cups CUPS (formerly an acronym for Common UNIX Printing System) is a modular computer printer, printing system for Unix-like computer operating systems which allows a computer to act as a print server. A computer running CUPS is a Server (computi ...

and two

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

titles and surpassing

Humberto Suazo Humberto Andrés Suazo Pontivo (; born 10 May 1981), nicknamed ''Chupete'' (in English, ''Lollipop''), is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a striker for Deportes La Serena. In 2006, he was awarded the IFFHS World's Top Goal Sc ...

to become the club's all-time top scorer in all competitions. His identical twin brother José Ramiro is also a footballer who played as a defender for

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club Everton and

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

outfit

Villarreal Villarreal ( ca-valencia , Vila-real) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's ...

and for the Argentina national team.

Early life

Funes Mori was born in

Mendoza, Argentina Mendoza (, ), officially the City of Mendoza ( es, Ciudad de Mendoza) is the capital of the province of Mendoza in Argentina. It is located in the northern-central part of the province, in a region of foothills and high plains, on the eastern si ...

. In 2001, he moved to

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Tarrant County. It forms part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal city of the metropolis and region. ...

and attended Workman Junior High and Arlington High School where he was coached by Jeffrey Waldrop playing football with his twin brother, Ramiro. The twins' father, Miguel, played professional football in Argentina with clubs such as

Independiente Rivadavia Club Sportivo Independiente Rivadavia (mostly known simply as Independiente Rivadavia) is a football club from Mendoza, Argentina. The team currently plays in Primera B Nacional, the second major league in Argentine Football league system. In ...

and Club Atlético Argentino in the 1980s. Funes Mori scored 40 goals in the 2008 season leading his team to District Champions and Area Finalist with a record of 24–2–1. Rogelio and Ramiro, who are identical twins, also played several seasons for the Associated Soccer Group (ASG) 91' team. His coach with ASG was

Uche Okafor Uchenna Kizito Okafor , often shortened to Uche Okafor (8 August 1967 – 6 January 2011) was a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a defender. He made 34 international appearances for the Nigeria national team. Club career ...

. After that,

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

scout Jorge Alvial scouted Rogelio and Ramiro on the first day of the reality show ''

Sueño MLS The Sueño MLS program is a Major League Soccer scouting program that looks for undiscovered talent. This program gives players the opportunity to be selected to join the elite Youth Academy System of a host Major League Soccer club. Synopsis S ...

'', and spoke to his parents about a future tryout at Chelsea. He participated in ''Sueño MLS'' and won the contest, therefore becoming part of

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 ...

Club career

River Plate

Funes Mori began his professional career with River Plate 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 ...

on 6 December 2009, on a 1–3 defeat against Vélez Sársfield. He played the last two games of that year at home against Racing Club and away to Tigre, scoring his first goal with the club in their visit to the latter. In the traditional pre-season encounters for the big clubs in Argentina, the Torneos de Verano, he scored for River in a 3–1 victory over their rivals

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" is a s ...

's ''Copa Desafío''. On 9 May, during the 2010 Clausura tournament, he scored his first

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

for River Plate in a game against Racing Club. He achieved the three goals in only 24 minutes, breaking a personal 11-match streak without scoring a goal. In the last game of the tournament, the forward scored River's only goal in a 1–5 loss to Tigre at home. In the first game of the 2010 Apertura, he scored a 90th-minute goal following an assist from

Ariel Ortega Ariel Arnaldo Ortega (born 4 March 1974) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. His nickname is "El Burrito" (''The Little Donkey''), thus he is called "Burrito Ortega". Ariel Ortega first played f ...

to secure a 1–0 victory over Tigre. This was his third goal in three games against that team. In the third fixture, against Independiente, he scored two goals in the first half as River went on to win 3–2. The forward scored his fourth goal of the season in the 1–0 victory over

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 ...

Benfica

On 10 August 2013, Funes Mori joined Benfica on a five-year contract. River Plate received €2 million from an investment group who kept a share of its economic right's, with Benfica receiving half, plus the sports rights. On 15 September, he made his debut for Benfica B, scoring his first goal in a Benfica shirt. On 15 March, he scored four goals for the B side against

Sporting Covilhã Sporting may refer to: *Sport, recreational games and play *Sporting (neighborhood), in Alexandria, Egypt Sports clubs *AC Sporting, a football club from Beirut, Lebanon *Alexandria Sporting Club, a sports club from Alexandria, Egypt *Real Sportin ...

in a 4–0 win. On 9 July 2014, he was loaned to

Eskişehirspor Eskişehirspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club located in Eskişehir. Eskisehirspor has a total of six trophies, making them the sixth most trophies holders in Turkey. Founded in 1965, Eskişehirspor competed in the top division ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

for one year, with the option to make the move permanent for a €3.5 million fee.

Monterrey

On 12 June 2015, Funes Mori moved to

club

. He made his debut in a 3–2 friendly win over Morelia, scoring in the 91st minute. In his debut tournament he finished fourth-joint top scorer of the league with 11 goals. On 6 August 2016, he scored his first

against León. In December 2017, he won the

Copa MX The Copa MX (formerly called Copa Tower Monterrey, Copa Eliminatoria, Copa México and Copa Corona MX (for sponsorship reasons)) was a Mexican football cup competition that was established in 1907. After a lengthy hiatus that began in 1997, it wa ...

after defeating Pachuca 1–0 in a home win. He scored his 100th goal for the club on 18 December 2019 in the

Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

semi-final against Premiere League club

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, making it 1–1 partial at the 14th minute but culminating in a 2–1 loss. After their participation at the Club World Cup, Monterrey disputed the Apertura championship finals against América. In the second leg, he scored the tying aggregate goal in order to take the match into overtime; where the winner was determined via a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...

and Monterrey ultimately won 4–2. He was included in the tournament's Best XI. With Monterrey's victory of the 2019–20 Copa MX, they had obtained the

continental treble A treble in association football is achieved when a club team wins three trophies in a single season. A ''continental treble'' involves winning the club's national league competition, main national cup competition, and main continental trophy. A ...

International career

Argentina

Funes Mori was called up by

Walter Perazzo Walter Osvaldo Perazzo Otero (born August 2, 1962) is a Colombian born Argentine football manager, currently in charge of Güemes, and former centre forward. Biography Perazzo was born in Bogotá, Colombia while his father Alberto was pl ...

to be part of the Argentina under-20 squad that participated in the

2011 South American Youth Championship The 2011 South American Youth Championship ( es, Campeonato Sudamericano Sub-20 “Juventud de America” Perú 2011, pt, Campeonato Sul-Americano Sub-20 “Juventude da America” Peru 2011) was a football competition for U-20 national teams in ...

, scoring twice. In 2012, Funes Mori made his senior debut for

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

during a friendly match in the Superclásico de las Américas.

Mexico

Early in 2019, Funes Mori inquired

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

about the possibility to play for

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, but was deemed ineligible. In 2020, following a change of rules regarding naturalized players by FIFA, he was deemed eligible to play for Mexico and restated his interest. On 14 June 2021, Funes Mori was granted his Mexican citizenship making him eligible to play for Mexico. On 3 July 2021, he earned his first cap with the senior national team under manager

Gerardo Martino Gerardo Daniel "Tata" Martino (born 20 November 1962) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player. Martino played mostly for Newell's Old Boys in his native Rosario. He holds the record of appearances with the team playing a ...

in a friendly match against

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, scoring on his debut in the team's 4–0 victory. Funes Mori participated at the 2021 Gold Cup, scoring a total of 3 times. Mexico finished runner-up after losing the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

to the United States 0–1. In October 2022, Funes Mori was named in Mexico's preliminary 31-man

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and US doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a team, but smaller than a section." while US Army do ...

for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

, and in November, he was ultimately included in the final 26-man roster.

Personal life

Funes Mori is married to Jorgelina who is the sister of former FC Dallas midfielder

Mauro Díaz Mauro Alberto Díaz (born 10 March 1991) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder. Early career Díaz made his first team debut for River Plate on 21 September 2008 in a 3–1 away loss to San Martín de Tu ...

. His

twin brother Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

, Ramiro, is also a footballer and plays for

club

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul or simply Cruz Azul () is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in the Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Because "azul" means "blue" in Spanish, the club has traditionally ...

as a defender and played for the

national team at two

Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...

tournaments.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Mexico's goal tally first.''

Honours

River Plate *

Primera B Nacional Primera Nacional (usually called simply Nacional B, in English "National B Division", and known as Primera B Nacional until the 2019–20 season) is the second division of the Argentine football league system. The competition is made up of 37 tea ...

: 2011–12 Benfica *

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

: 2013–14 *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 seaso ...

: 2013–14 *

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual football club competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the Primeira Liga and LigaPro, the top two tier ...

: 2013–14 Monterrey *

: Apertura 2019 *

: Apertura 2017, 2019–20 *

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

Individual *

Goal of the Tournament: 2015–16, 2018–19 *

Top Scorer: Clausura 2017 *

Player of the Month: January 2019 *

Best XI: Apertura 2019 *

All-Star:

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 ...

Best XI:

Golden Ball:

Team of the Tournament:

C.F. Monterrey Club de Fútbol Monterrey, often known simply as Monterrey or their nickname Rayados, is a Mexican professional football club based in Monterrey, Nuevo León which currently plays in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football. Founded on 28 ...

All Time Leading Goalscorer

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Funes Mori, Rogelio 1991 births Living people Argentine twins Twin sportspeople Mexican people of Argentine descent Sportspeople of Argentine descent Sportspeople from Mendoza, Argentina Argentine footballers Mexican footballers Association football forwards Club Atlético River Plate footballers S.L. Benfica B players S.L. Benfica footballers Eskişehirspor footballers C.F. Monterrey players Argentine Primera División players Primera Nacional players Liga Portugal 2 players Primeira Liga players Süper Lig players Liga MX players Argentina youth international footballers Argentina under-20 international footballers Argentina international footballers Mexico international footballers Dual internationalists (football) 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Argentine expatriate footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in the United States Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Mexico Argentine emigrants to Mexico Identical twins 2022 FIFA World Cup players