Maximiliano Nicolás "Maxi" Moralez (born 27 February 1987) is an Argentine 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 plays as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

New York City FC New York City Football Club (often referred to as NYCFC) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in New York City. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern C ...

. He is nicknamed ''frasquito'' (English: little flask).

Club career

Moralez started playing professionally for Racing Club 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 ...

during the 2005 Clausura tournament, entering the field on a 2–2 draw with Colón. In 2007, Moralez was bought by

FC Moscow FC Moscow (Russian: Футбольный клуб Москва) was a Russian football (soccer), football club based in Moscow. History The creation of the team was first announced by the Moscow government on 1 March 2004. FC Moscow was formed on ...

. However, after only half a season in the Russian club, he was loaned back to Racing Club. Moralez helped his club avoid relegation during the 2007–08 season, scoring the winning goal against

Belgrano Belgrano may refer to: People * Joaquín Belgrano (1773–1848), an Argentine patriot * José Denis Belgrano (1844–1917), Spanish painter * Joseph Belgrano (1762–1823), Argentine military officer and politician, brother of Manuel * Manuel Be ...

in the relegation playoff. For the 2009 Clausura tournament, Moralez was bought by Vélez Sársfield. During his first season in the club, he helped the team become Argentine champion, playing 14 (out of 19) games and scoring 5 goals. He scored the winning goal against

Huracán Huracán (; ; , "one legged"), often referred to as ''U Kʼux Kaj'', the "Heart of Sky", is a Kʼicheʼ Maya god of wind, storm, fire and one of the creator deities who participated in all three attempts at creating humanity. He also caused th ...

on the 83rd minute of the final game, giving Vélez the 1–0 victory necessary to win the championship. During the following tournament, the 2009 Apertura, Moralez was Vélez' top goalscorer (along

Jonathan Cristaldo Jonatan Ezequiel Cristaldo (born 5 March 1989), nicknamed "Churry", is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a striker for Bolivian club Oriente Petrolero. Club career Cristaldo made his debut for Vélez Sársfield in a 0–2 home ...

) with 5 goals each. On 5 March 2011, Moralez renewed his contract with Vélez until June 2013. During that semester, he won his second league title with the club (the 2011 Clausura) playing 15 of the 19 games, and scoring 4 goals. He also played 11 of the 12 games of his team's

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semi-finalist campaign, scoring 5 goals. On 27 July 2011,

Atalanta B.C. Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio (), commonly referred to as Atalanta, is a professional Association football, football club based in Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy, who compete in Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football league system, Italian league ...

, recently promoted to the

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

, paid Moralez's buyout clause to Vélez Sársfield (€8 million for the 50% transfer rights owned by Vélez). The Argentine midfielder was introduced by his new club three days later. On 24 December 2015, Jesús Martínez Murguía (León's President), confirmed that Moralez would be playing the 2016 tournament with

Club León Club León is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in León, Guanajuato, León, Guanajuato, that competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football league system, Mexican football. The club was founded in 1944 ...

. On 15 February 2017,

announced that he had been signed as a

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International career

In 2007, Moralez was called for the Argentina under-20 squad for the

South American Youth Championship South American Youth Championships may refer to: * South American Youth Football Championship The South American Youth Football Championship, also known as South American U-20 Championship (; ), branded as CONMEBOL Sub 20, is a South American foo ...

held in

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

. Later that year, he was part of Argentina FIFA W-20 World Cup title winning team. He played along

Sergio Agüero Sergio Leonel Agüero del Castillo (born 2 June 1988), also known as Kun Agüero, is an Argentine former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. He is regarded as one of th ...

and

Mauro Zárate Mauro Matías Zárate (; born 13 March 1987) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a forward. Zárate started his career with Vélez Sarsfield in his native country, playing three years for the team and winning the Pri ...

in the attack. Moralez was third-highest scorer in the tournament (bronze shoe) and was named second-best player (silver ball), behind his teammate Agüero. In November 2010, Moralez was selected as part of an Argentine league squad to train twice-weekly with the Argentina national team. He made his senior international debut in a 4–1 friendly victory over

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

on 16 March 2011.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Vélez Sársfield *

: 2009 Clausura, 2011 Clausura New York City FC *

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2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Campeones Cup The Campeones Cup is an annual North American association football match contested between the winners of the previous MLS Cup from Major League Soccer and the winners of the Campeón de Campeones from Liga MX. The competition was established by ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Argentina U20 *

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Individual *FIFA U-20 World Cup Silver Ball:

*FIFA U-20 World Cup Bronze Shoe:

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 ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

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 Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...

top assist provider:

References

External links

Profile
at Vélez Sársfield official website *
Maximiliano Moralez Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moralez, Maximiliano 1987 births Living people People from Rosario Department Footballers from Santa Fe Province Argentine men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Racing Club de Avellaneda footballers FC Moscow players Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield footballers Atalanta BC players Club León footballers New York City FC players Argentine Primera División players Russian Premier League players Serie A players Liga MX players Designated Players (MLS) Major League Soccer players Argentina men's under-20 international footballers Argentina men's international footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Russia Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Argentine expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States 21st-century Argentine sportsmen