Alfredo Morales (born May 12, 1990) is a professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who plays as a

defensive 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 boundari ...

for

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 b ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

. Born in Germany, Morales represented the United States national team.

Club career

Morales took his first steps at Borussia Pankow in the east of Berlin. In November 2008, Morales played his first match for Hertha BSC II in the

Regionalliga The Regionalliga () is the fourth tier in the German football league system. Until 1974, it was the second tier in Germany. In 1994, it was introduced as the third tier. Upon the creation of the new nationwide 3. Liga in 2008, it became the four ...

. In 2010, he was allowed to travel with the professional players to the summer training camp for first time, though he could not make it to the squad. Due to injuries to Fanol Perdedaj and Raffael, however, he made his professional debut for Hertha's first team on December 5, 2010, in a match against

1860 Munich , commonly known as TSV 1860 München (; lettered as ) or 1860 Munich, is a sports club based in Munich. The club's football team currently plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of German football. 1860 Munich was one of the founding members ...

, which Hertha lost 0–1. On May 17, 2013, Morales joined

FC Ingolstadt Fußball-Club Ingolstadt 2004 e.V., commonly known as FC Ingolstadt 04 or FC Ingolstadt, is a German football club based in Ingolstadt, Bavaria. The club was founded in 2004 out of the merger of the football sides of two other clubs: ESV Ingolst ...

on a two-year contract. Morales received a red card in the 80th minute of Ingolstadt's opening match against

Erzgebirge Aue Fußball Club Erzgebirge Aue e.V., commonly known as simply FC Erzgebirge Aue or Erzgebirge Aue (), is a German football club based in Aue-Bad Schlema, Saxony. The former East German side was a founding member of the 3. Liga in 2008–09, ...

on July 19, 2013, after earning a spot in the starting XI. On May 16, 2018 Morales joined newly promoted Bundesliga team

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a German football club in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, which competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fortuna entered the league ...

. On April 7, 2021, Morales joined

club

on a three year contract through the 2023 season with an option for 2024.

International career

Morales was eligible to play for the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

through his father, who was born in Peru but is an American citizen and served in the U.S. military. Morales was called up by the senior U.S. squad for the November 2011 European friendlies. Morales made his first appearance for the national on January 29, 2013, in an international friendly against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, coming on as a substitute in the 75th minute. Morales had considered playing for

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

since his father is from

Chimbote Chimbote ; qu, Chimputi) is the largest city in the Ancash Region of Peru, and the capital of both Santa Province and Chimbote District. The city is located on the coast in Ferrol Bay, 130 km south of Trujillo and north of Lima on the ...

, Peru.

Sergio Markarián Sergio Apraham Markarián Abrahamián (born 1 November 1944) is a Uruguayan-Argentine former football coach of Armenian descent. In 2015, he was the head coach of the Greece national football team. Early life Markarián lived in Argentina durin ...

, then coach of the Peru national team, had shown interest in the German-born player. Morales was cap tied to the United States on July 13, 2015, when he started against

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 Co ...

in the

2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 13th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition and the 23rd CONCACAF regional championship overall in the organization's fifty-four years of existence. It was held in the United States, with two matches bein ...

. The day after, however, he was replaced by

Joe Corona Joe Benny Corona Crespín (born July 9, 1990) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Swedish club GIF Sundsvall, on loan from Houston Dynamo. Youth and college Corona began playing organized soccer at the a ...

on the roster, as each squad that advanced to the knockout stage could make six changes to their roster.

Career statistics

Honors

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 Conferen ...

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 coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morales, Alfredo 1990 births Living people Footballers from Berlin American soccer players United States men's international soccer players United States men's under-23 international soccer players United States men's under-20 international soccer players German footballers. American sportspeople of Peruvian descent American people of German descent German people of Peruvian descent German people of American descent Sportspeople of American descent Citizens of the United States through descent Association football defenders Association football midfielders Hertha BSC II players Hertha BSC players FC Ingolstadt 04 players Fortuna Düsseldorf players New York City FC players Regionalliga players 2. Bundesliga players Bundesliga players 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Major League Soccer players