Ramón Morales Higuera (born 10 October 1975) 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 ...

who played as a

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 boundarie ...

Club career

Morales made his professional debut in the Mexican Primera División in 1995, playing for Rayados de Monterrey in a 0–0 draw match, against Tecos UAG. He was regarded as one of Mexico's most outstanding and skilful attacking left midfielders, with explosive

speed In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (ma ...

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skills, fast attacking abilities and a powerful left foot, while also being an outstanding free kick taker. Ramón is known as one of the best mid-range free kick takers in Mexico's Primera División. Morales is a versatile player often playing as a

left winger 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 boundarie ...

, however it is not uncommon to see him move up in the pitch as a left forward or down on the defensive side as a left-sided wing-back. Ramón was a key figure for Guadalajara and has been so for years, aiding the team with swift counterattacks, precise crosses and through passes. He was a vital part in Chivas' Championship Apertura 2006 season. On 27 December 2006 Ramón Morales was appointed as Chivas' new captain for the 2007 season following the departure of ex-Chiva

Oswaldo Sánchez Oswaldo Javier Sánchez Ibarra (; born 21 September 1973) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper and a sports analyst for Televisa Deportes. He is highly regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in Mexican football ...

Santos Laguna Club Santos Laguna S.A. de C.V. (), commonly known as Santos Laguna or Santos, is a Mexican professional football club that competes in the Liga MX. It is located in northern Mexico and represents the urban area of La Comarca Lagunera, made up o ...

. Morales scored 66 goals for Guadalajara, which is ninth all-time in club history. His younger brother Carlos, currently plays for Monarcas Morelia and is also a left midfielder. On 11 August 2011, Morales announced his retirement from professional football after a 16-year career.

Coaching career

On 6 January 2013, Morales was presented as the new coach for Guadalajara Sub-17 Team. On 1 December 2013 he was crowned champions with the Under 17 team in the final against los Tuzos de Pachuca. He was later moved up to be the under-20s coach. On 3 October 2014, he was appointed as the interim coach of the first division team after the resignation of Carlos Bustos. In June 2015, after success with the youth teams, he was appointed as the assistant manager of Jose Manuel de la Torre with the first team. On 14 September 2015, after Jose Manuel de la Torre was released, Morales was appointed as Chivas' interim manager for the second time while a new coach was announced.

International career

Morales made his international debut for 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 ...

on 12 July 2001, playing against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Morales played for Mexico at the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...

in Korea-Japan, where he appeared in four matches. He also played in 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 i ...

where he scored a freekick goal for Mexico's first official win over Argentina. The game ended 1–0 in favor of Mexico. He also played four games in the 2005 Confederations Cup, in Germany and five games in Mexico's qualification matches for the 2006 World Cup. Morales played in three matches in the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, 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 th ...

. He scored a freekick in Mexico's 2–0 win over Brazil in the first round of the Copa América.

Career statistics

International goals

Honours

Guadalajara * Mexican Primera División: Apertura 2006 *

InterLiga The InterLiga was a football competition from 2004 to 2010 between Mexican clubs to determine qualifying spots for that country in South America's premier club competition, the Copa Libertadores. Prior to the 2004 Copa Libertadores, Mexican cl ...

: 2009 Individual * Mexican Primera División Attacking Midfielder of the Tournament: Clausura 2006

References

External links

* * * *
Ramón Morales at FootballDatabase.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morales, Ramon 1975 births Association football midfielders Living people C.F. Monterrey players C.D. Guadalajara footballers Tecos F.C. footballers Liga MX players 2002 FIFA World Cup players 2004 Copa América players 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2007 Copa América players Mexico international footballers People from La Piedad Footballers from Michoacán Mexican footballers