Javier Morales (born 10 January 1980) is an Argentine former

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 ...

and an assistant

Inter Miami CF Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami (), commonly referred to as Inter Miami, is an American professional soccer club based in the Miami metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (M ...

coach.

Career

Argentina

From 1998 to 2006, Morales played for four different clubs in the

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...

, including two stints each with

Lanús Lanús () is the capital of Lanús Partido, Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. It lies just south of the capital city Buenos Aires, in the Greater Buenos Aires conurbation, metropolitan area. The List of cities in Argentina, city has a populati ...

and

Arsenal de Sarandí Arsenal Fútbol Club (), usually referred as Arsenal de Sarandí , or simply Arsenal, is an Argentine sports club from the Sarandí district of Avellaneda Partido, Greater Buenos Aires. The football team currently plays in Primera Nacional, t ...

. He spent most of that time with Avellaneda-based Arsenal, playing in 146 matches and scoring 15 goals for the club. He spent his last season in Argentina with Instituto before moving to Spain.

Spain

Morales spent 2006–07 with Vecindario of the Spanish Second Division LIGA BBVA. In one lone season with the club, he scored five goals in 23 matches (20 starts).

United States

In August 2007, Morales moved to the United States to play for Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer. Morales was acquired by Real Salt Lake at the same time as fellow Argentines Matias Mantilla and

Fabián Espíndola Edgar Fabián Espíndola (born 4 May 1985) is an Argentine Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward. Club career Early career Espíndola started his career in 2005 with Argentine giants Boca Junior ...

. Morales made an immediate impact for RSL—he tallied an assist 40 seconds into his MLS debut (August 29 vs. the Kansas City Wizards) - the fastest first assist in MLS history. His first career goal for RSL came September 19 against the Los Angeles Galaxy. He finished the season with one goal and two assists in seven matches (five starts). In his second season with RSL (2008), Morales emerged as a star player and team leader. He started 29 of Real Salt Lake's 30 contests, totaling 6 goals (tied with

Robbie Findley Robert Findley (born August 4, 1985) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a forward. He was capped 11 times by the United States national team, having made his international debut in 2007. Findley played college soc ...

for second-highest on the team, just behind

Yura Movsisyan Yura Movsisyan (; born August 2, 1987) is an Armenian former professional association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. Most notably, Movsisyan played for FC Spartak Moscow, Spartak Moscow in the Russi ...

). Morales tallied 15 assists, shattering the club record of 11 set by

Jeff Cunningham Jeff Cunningham (born August 21, 1976) is a former professional soccer player who played as a forward. He is Major League Soccer's third-all-time leader in regular-season goals scored with 134. Born in Jamaica, Cunningham initially played for ...

in 2006. It was the second-highest total in the MLS that season, behind only league MVP

Guillermo Barros Schelotto Guillermo Barros Schelotto (; born 4 May 1973) is an Argentine football manager and former player who played as a forward. He is the current manager of Vélez Sarsfield. Barros Schelotto played 16 years of his professional career in the Argent ...

of the Columbus Crew. His outstanding play guided RSL to the club's first-ever appearance in the MLS Cup Playoffs, where Morales figured in all three of the team's postseason goals, scoring one and assisting on two as RSL advanced to the Western Conference Final. During the offseason, Morales signed a contract extension to keep him in Salt Lake until 2012. In 2009, he continued as one of RSL's top players, although his numbers declined somewhat. His play has been solid enough to earn him a selection in the 2009

MLS All-Star Game The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring selected players from the league against an international club or selected players from another league. MLS initially adopted a traditional all ...

. Already a fan favorite, Morales scored a spectacular goal in the team's 1-0 exhibition victory over

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 ...

on July 11. Morales started off the 2010 MLS season with a bang, tallying two goals and an assist against the San Jose Earthquakes. On May 7, 2011, in a game against Chivas, Morales suffered a fracture-dislocation in his left ankle after a challenge from Marcos Mondaini. He was out for over four months, returning to play on September 28, 2011. Morales announced that he would leave Real Salt Lake on November 3, 2016, having tallied more assists than any player in club history. He signed as a free agent with

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

on December 27, 2016. On April 12, 2018, Morales officially announced his retirement from playing professional football.

Coaching

Upon retirement, Morales became coach of the

Under-13 academy team, guiding the team to an international championship at the Copa Rayados Internacional tournament in Mexico. On February 19, 2019, he was named Academy Coach at

. On June 1, 2023, Morales was appointed interim head coach of Inter Miami after the firing of

Phil Neville Philip John Neville (born 21 January 1977) is an English association football, football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Major League Soccer club Portland Timbers. He is also the co-owner of Salford City F.C., Salford ...

Personal life

Morales holds a U.S. green card which qualified him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.

Honors

Club

;Real Salt Lake *MLS Cup:

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

*Western Conference ''playoffs'':

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

;Individual *

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 another league. MLS initially ado ...

(2):

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

MLS Best XI The MLS Best XI is an annual acknowledgment of the best eleven players in Major League Soccer. The selection is determined by a collection of media, players, and MLS club technical staffs. Winners Appearances by player The following players ...

* MLS 50/50 Club

References

External links

* * at Fútbol XXI
UD Vecindario webpage

Guardian statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morales, Javier 1980 births Living people Footballers from Buenos Aires Argentine men's footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Club Atlético Lanús footballers Arsenal de Sarandí footballers Newell's Old Boys footballers Instituto Atlético Central Córdoba footballers UD Vecindario players Real Salt Lake players FC Dallas players Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Argentine Primera División players Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Major League Soccer All-Stars Major League Soccer players Designated Players (MLS) Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in the United States Men's association football midfielders Inter Miami CF non-playing staff 21st-century Argentine sportsmen